Half a Man
by Fester0662
Summary: Pain is a constant...Cyborg had learned that the hard way at a very young age. All he wanted deep in his heart was for someone to understand him...would that ever happen? Or would he lose what was left of his humanity? More inside.
1. Chapter 1

**Half a Man**

Alright my friends…this is my first attempt at a Teen Titans fic. It was inspired by a love story between Robin and Starfire I read and I thought, "What about Cyborg?"

I'm not sure how many people will welcome it because Cyborg isn't as popular a character as he should be in my opinion.

I chose this because I can understand a bit of his frustration from real life events in my life.

It will be a one shot for the time being, and if I have time and the gumption, it may grow into something more as I have a lot of ideas in my head…as always.

Pairing: If I continue it, in the future.

Summary: Half man and half machine on the outside…that's what he was to the world. Everyone saw the book…the binding, the title, even the spine…but no one knew the story, because very few had ever bothered to look inside.

So what is inside?

Enjoy

The night was especially black this day.

No moon, no stars, it almost seemed like the sky was reflecting his mood.

He looked down at his right hand, as he raised it.

Staring at the open palm, the light from his components was enough to make the metal glint ever so slightly which made him smirk, although not in a humorous manner.

This has been his vigil.

For two weeks he has stood here on the roof of Titans Tower…brooding.

Most of the time, his thoughts would return to a certain time period.

Eight years ago.

It had been eight years since the accident.

Eight years since he became…half a man.

His father did the best he could to heal him…but with so much damage to his physical body, he had no choice but to put his only son in the experimental exo-skeleton that he had created.

It was originally supposed to be for the military…but because of budget cuts blah, blah, blah, the E frame sat collecting dust in a warehouse…until that day.

He refused to go to the time when he woke up, and found he was literally now the stuff of nightmares…

Cyborg shook his head and wiped the images away.

Still it took three years before he was even strong enough to be able to move parts of it without further hurting himself.

Strained muscles, bruises, he even broke his right Bicep once…but of course, his father found a way to fix that to.

_Yeah…dad fixed it_. He thought bitterly as his hand clenched into a fist. _He fixed everything_.

He took a deep breath and sighed, staring out over the water and eventually his eyes lost their focus.

He tried hard not to be the grumbly sort…bad attitude, bad manners…but some days it was just so hard.

Today happened to be one of them.

Usually…he would be in his room, lying on the diagnostic bed that monitored his systems. Lately though, he had been coming online more and more around the midnight hour, doing absolutely nothing for a few hours, then he goes and lays back down before anyone else is up.

Peace…seemed to be as alien to him as Starfire was…but at least she was a better conversationalist.

Starfire…her and Robin hooked up.

"Finally." He muttered out loud before he chuckled.

Everyone could see they liked each other…except those two.

And both of them too afraid to take the first step…make the first move.

Until Tokyo.

If they didn't hook up after that kiss in Tokyo, Cyborg was contemplating grabbing both of them in a headlock and dragging them into a closet and locking them in there until they did.

The image of Starfire and Robin pressed together in a tiny closet actually made him smile for a few seconds, but as always reality crept back in.

He had come a long way from the days when he first became a titan. A lot of tinkering with his systems, and other projects like the T car and the T rocket. (Or was it a sub now? He kept forgetting.) As well as security around the tower kept him busy, as well as all the battles he and the other titans had been in together.

The unfortunate part was even though they usually came out on top…no one could see the scars it left on him.

Sure, parts can be fixed, damage can be repaired…but how do you repair a damaged psyche? How do you heal a wounded pride, or a broken heart?

He usually would just bury it all down deep…because he had many things that weighed heavily on his mind whenever he did have brooding time.

The episodes with Brother Blood, Atlas, and Trigon sometimes felt like it would physically bear him down, but the Titans always came out on top. Cyborg would laugh and then joke…celebrating with his friends their victory…but there was something about the Titan's friend that they didn't know.

You see Cyborg's father not only made the only cybernetic body, but also the only cybernetic brain. Cyborg wasn't just half machine…he was also half computer.

Most people would call that a hell of an advantage…He could remember anything and bring it back to the forefront of his mind in seconds. He could store as much knowledge as his capacity could hold. And if he ran out of capacity, (Which hadn't happened yet) he stored it on his central computer the same way he stored information about enemies and battles they had fought.

No matter how hard he tried though…there were some things he couldn't store…things he couldn't erase.

Maybe it was a failsafe system so if he lost his human memory, he would be able to recall all that had happened. He wasn't sure.

_Maybe it's something dad installed after the blue prints were drawn, and I just need to find it. _He thought to himself, because try as he might…he couldn't find anything on his own.

But lately it had been tormenting him in his sleep…replaying the worst episodes of his life, but not reliving the triumphs.

He clearly remembered when Brother Blood made him think he could feel.

He remembered clearly not being able to beat Atlas, and almost giving up.

He remembered clearly how his inner demons got the best of him.

There were other episodes as well, other villains…but these are the ones that stood out mostly…because they made him question himself, his worth as a human being.

His life.

The other Titans may have noticed, or maybe they didn't notice how aggressive he had become, how angry he always seemed in battle…but they probably chalked it all up to the heat of the moment.

It was completely possible that no one noticed…or no one cared.

Like Bumble Bee.

He smirked and shook his head as he huffed at the memory.

This one haunted him lately too, and it was a toss up to decide which hurt the most…but this one was pretty close to the number one position.

Flashback

She was crying…and at first he thought it was in joy…but then she handed the ring back to him.

He blinked in shock as he looked at the engagement ring now resting in the palm of his hand then looked at her. "I..I don't understand. Don't you love me?"

Bumble Bee reached up and caressed the human side of his face and tried to smile at him, but it was obvious that it was a hard effort for her.

But he knew what was coming, but hoped he was wrong anyway.

He had a feeling, maybe a premonition. But anyone with half a brain would know he didn't want it to happen. Who would?

"Victor…you are without a doubt a beautiful man. You helped me become a better leader for Titans East, you made me realize that I don't have to do anything alone, and your kind soul shines in everything you do…but as selfish as this sounds…we would never work."

Cyborg blinked as he looked at her, but his mind just couldn't focus on her completely. "Why? You just told me all the best qualities that you see in me…why wouldn't we work?" A quick thought on his part made him blurt out. "If it's my attitude…I can change…I can be…anything you wanted!"

Bumble Bee looked down for a second then swallowed as she looked at him again and broke his heart further. "We're just too different."

Cyborg took a step back from her in shock, breaking her contact with him. "Where is this coming from? What the hell? You never acted this way before…" His eye opened wide and he leaned in and whispered to her. "Are you being threatened? Is someone controlling you?"

Bumble Bee put her arm down and shook her head. "No. I only wish someone were…I wish it were that simple…and of course I never acted this way before. You never proposed to me before."

Cyborg growled before he turned around and punched a hole through the wall behind him.

When the dust settled, he was standing there breathing hard as he stared down at her.

He didn't breathe hard because of exertion, but he suddenly couldn't catch his breath. "Then Why Damn it!?" He screamed, but her expression hadn't changed.

She was still crying, and stood in the same position.

Cyborg shook his head as he tried to focus and blame it on something he could fix. "Is it about sex? I mean sex is possible…" But his voice trailed off as she shook her head negatively over and over again before she looked in his eye. "I don't want to hurt you anymore Vic…please, just let it go."

Cyborg took a step towards her, but it was actually more then he thought it was as a small crater appeared under his foot and the ground shook with a resounding boom.

Reason had almost fled him as he screamed at her again. "TELL ME!"

Bumble Bee, known for her temper did the one thing she didn't want to do.

In a burst of anger she told him the truth.

"What exactly do you think…huh? You're a machine! Someday I want to be a mother…can you help me have children? Are you even capable of producing sperm?"

Cyborg's face fell as her words penetrated the fog his anger had produced, but she was angry now, and she wasn't finished.

"I have touched you, I have felt you, when we kissed, when we hugged, and most of you is cold. I don't want to have to think all the time about where I can touch you so I will feel comfortable…and do you think it would be easy for me to lay in a bed all by myself every night while you slept in another room…recharging?"

Which was actually preposterous.

Cyborg had long ago replaced his simple ion batteries with an internal power supply and fusion batteries as a back up…but her point was valid.

He still had to sleep on a diagnostic bed, and his cybernetics still needed downtime so the auto repair system would keep his internal parts running.

"But…that's superficial…It's like you're saying you wouldn't marry me if I was in a wheelchair!" He tried to find a way to fight against her words…to make her see that even under the metal…he was still the man he always was.

But this must have been laying in her mind for a long time, and now it was all coming out. "Victor…tell me honestly. When you touch me, can you feel me? Can you feel the goose bumps on my arms or the hair on my head? If by some odd chance you and I were lying together, could you feel the stubble on my legs if I rubbed mine against yours, and tell me if I needed to shave? Can you?"

Cyborg's anger slowly evaporated as one of his fears, in fact the greatest fear he had about this night came true.

His head sank down and he looked at the engagement ring in his hand.

"No." His voice whispered as the light glinted off of the precious stones.

Bumble Bee frowned, and her tears started again, her anger spent as she realized her words just ravaged a kind man's heart.

"I'm sorry Vic…I really am…W..we could still be…friends?" She asked and Cyborg chuckled as his hand closed on the ring, crushing the soft metal and the diamonds together in a lump. "Friends…yeah." He whispered as he turned and started to walk away.

Her voice reached him again, but he had no intention of turning back around. "CY…please…I'll see you around!" But her words were by far hollow and unrepentant.

Cyborg's hand turned over and the remainder of the ring fell to the concrete and glittered in the glow of the streetlight as he whispered. "No…you won't."

Present

The other Titans knew something was wrong when he walked in, his fast cast in stone. Robin asked if he was ok after they realized the happy occasion he had hoped for wasn't going to happen…and Beast Boy badgered the hell out of him…but he just smiled at them and shook his head before going to his room, and locking the door. No one asked him what happened again the next day or the day after that. His face said it all. Things between him and bumble Bee...were done.

That was exactly thirteen days ago.

It seemed life for him would always be the same…his friends accepted him, and maybe that was best…just keep it all that way.

_No need for love…besides, machines can't love can they?_

With a sigh Cyborg looked up into the sky.

"I love you dad…you did the best you could. But some days…I just wish you had let me die."

He reached up and the position sensors of his hand stopped him from rubbing to hard against his face as he wiped the lone tear away.

One tear…but one tear is sometimes all it takes.

And in the daytime, he would be the machine, turning off the raw emotions that ate at him…and make his friends feel comfortable. He would play video games, watch movies, laugh and joke…because as illogical as it sounded, no one could help him. How could they? Why would they?

But despite the logic, despite the metal, and the computer components…he knew the truth.

He was still just a cybernetic organism…a cyborg…but even a cyborg can cry.

To be continued…


	2. Chapter 2

**Half a Man**

**Chapter2**

The new day began with Beast boy doing his usual…bouncing all over the place with way too much energy.

Cyborg was drinking a cup of orange juice and he nodded to Raven as she sat down with her usual cup of herbal tea.

Cyborg wasn't sure where she got this blend from…but just the aroma of it made him take a deep breath and smile. When he did Raven raised an eyebrow at him and he just did as usual, painted on a big smile and thought of something to say. "Hey that smells good…is that a new mix of tea leaves?"

Raven looked confused as she was about to take a sip of her tea and looked at him as she placed the cup on the saucer in front of her. "Yes." She said in her monotonous voice. "I wanted to try something different."

This actually made beast boy raise his eyebrow in return. _Raven trying something different? What is this word coming to?_

Cyborg smiled at her…but Raven could sense it really didn't have any feeling behind it.  
The conversation ended there as Robin and Star fire walked into the kitchen rather close to each other.

Beast boy of course just couldn't resist. "Robin and Star sittin' in a tree…"

Thankfully it didn't continue as Raven smacked him in the back of the head and beast boy voiced his displeasure in his usual way. "OW! What was that for?"

Raven just looked at him blandly and in her usual tone of voice made him feel three inches tall without saying a whole lot. "Are we in kindergarten?"

Beast boy frowned at her then shook his head. "No."

Robin smirked as he saw where this was going, and pat himself on the back mentally as she proved him right. "Then act like it." She said in the same monotone, making beast boy blush briefly in embarrassment.

Cyborg grinned and pointed at Beast boy in a mocking way. "Ooooo…you got owned!"

Beast boy frowned then shrugged but didn't notice Cyborg's usual banter felt a little forced. "Aw c'mon, they know I'm kidding?" He turned to Robin and Star fire who had taken a seat at the table. "Don't you?"

Robin shrugged and Star fire smiled at Beast boy. "This is an earth custom, to congratulate a new couple yes?"

Robin grinned as he sat next to Star fire. "Um…no it's not actually. It's a way to tease people. It's not really mean, but it can be embarrassing."

Star fire contemplated that for a moment before she looked at Robin with a frown, "You say it causes embarrassment, but it does not hurt. I do not feel the red of cheeks or the heart of shame…only it confuses me."

Beast boy frowned as he sat down with a plate of soy sausage, and pancakes with soy milk. "Why does it confuse you?" He asked before he took a big bite out of the sausage link.

Star fire looked at him and blinked her eyes. "Why would we be sitting in a tree?"

Raven put her head in her hand, Cyborg almost did a spit take and Beast boy fell off his chair.

Robin, with a glare at Beast boy turned to face Star fire and ignored them as he quietly explained to her what it was supposed to mean.

After a few seconds Star got a big grin on her face. "So we are in love now…then we will get the marriage?"

Robin blinked before shaking his head. "Um…"

But Star fire was on a roll now as she saw him and her and white picket fences, big anime hearts in her eyes and little Robins and Tamaranians popping up all around them.

But almost immediately she turned serious as she looked at Robin again. "But if we are to have babies in a baby carriage we need to talk of it. I cannot become pregnant unless we complete the ritual of catooga!" She smiled big at him and began to bounce in her chair. "Will we be making these plans soon?"

Everyone's mouth hit the floor including Robin's who was now at a loss for what to say. Cyborg threw a piece of toast at Beast boy which bounced off his forehead and he again became vocal. "What was that for?" He yelled in indignation.

Cyborg waggled a finger at him. "See what you started? It'll be weeks before Robin can explain this one."

Star fire still looked at Robin expectantly, and Raven drank her tea. Beast boy picked up the toast and took a bite out of it as Cyborg rose to his feet. "Well that was enough excitement for me for one day…I'll be in the lab…tinkering."

Robin still sat in the same position, same expression on his face. "Um…" He mumbled, but Cyborg had already left the room.

None of the others noticed that as soon as his back was to them, his smile disappeared, and his expression had lost any semblance of emotion.

O

Looking at the computer prints, Cyborg calculated the dimensions and nodded. "Yeah…I can make it fit if I move the capacitors here…" He said out loud as he drew a new line and wrote down a few numbers.

After a few seconds he frowned and erased a different line. "I can't use those then…the power has to be equal on all sides…"

Cyborg was sure he was on his way to finally figuring out the design and how he could incorporate it, when an all too familiar voice broke his concentration. "Whatcha doin'?"

Cyborg turned partially to look at beast boy then turned back to the blue prints. "Oh hey B. B. I'm just working on a new design for my arms…" He mumbled as his eye refocused on the page and he still tried to puzzle it out.

Beast boy did exactly what Cyborg hoped he wouldn't. "Cool! Can I help?"

Cyborg blinked then looked at him with a frown and a vigorous shake of his head. "No, no can do, out of the question, no!"

Beast boy pouted then whined at him as he turned into a puppy with big soulful eyes. "Oh please? C'mon…I'll be good!"

The puppy/Beast boy yipped at him a few times then whined pitifully at the larger teen. Cyborg however wasn't having any of it.

Cyborg picked him up by the scruff of his neck and carried him to the door. "No you won't…you have wandering hands and a short attention span, and in your defense I have a short temper. Out."

Beast boy struggled until he was sat on the other side of the door. "You can't treat me like this! Its cruelty to animals…I'll call the ASPCA!"

But the door closed and he heard the magnetic lock click in place. "Not fair!" He shouted, but Cyborg had already sat down and continued working on his project.

As soon as he had the door locked he took a deep breath then let it out slowly and the smile disappeared. With no one to bother him, he could drop the act.

This project was important to him…it would help him to be stronger. As the proverbial "Power house" of the team he had noticed with some of their opponents, his strength had been lacking.

This would never do.

If he wanted to continue being useful to his team mates he would have to do more then just being the jokester or happy influence when everyone was around. No he like them would have to continue growing, and since he couldn't grow as they did, he had to do it the only way he could…and this would definitely help.

A major upgrade of all of his components was a few years off still, thankfully…but he had to be able to keep up with the nuts they had to face on occasion.

Looking at the name on the top of the schematic he frowned a little deeper before becoming indifferent.

His father had also had some theoretical designs that weren't complete, stored on his hard drive, but some of them were quite sound…with a little thought and work. Hopefully, this one would work as well as he hoped.

It was mostly incomplete when he pulled the drawing up at first, but with a little effort and some hours contemplating it, he was able to finish the design, now all he had to do was build it. The hard part would be to incorporate it with the arm functions, and his sonic blaster, because he didn't want to give it up either.

He turned to a bench and began manipulating pieces that were partially assembled there, before he disconnected his right arm and opened its access panels so he could get at the internal components.

O

Raven floated in a lotus position as she began to relax her body and mind together. She was actually debating whether she should go back…but she also thought she was spending too much time there. She was certain she was getting addicted, but the only reason she wasn't there all the time was because it was lonely after a while. And while everyone knew she liked the solitude she had grown accustomed to her teammates…and enjoyed their company.

Of course there was such an instance as "too much of a good thing"…but even she realized she was far from what she once was.

There was a time she had to lock all of her emotions away…but after their victory over Trigun, Raven seemed to balance out…but the truth was that it was only a temporary thing.

A month later Raven's powers started acting up whenever she had an emotional moment…and that seemed to be happening more and more until through trial and error she discovered that her powers were directly tied not just in her emotions, but her physical body.

One of the reasons Raven didn't like to be touched was because of an emotional response to different stimuli. A pat on the shoulder, a kiss on the cheek, a handshake, all produced an emotional response. Now that she knew that, she realized even though she would love to have full reign over her emotions…she couldn't.

The stoic, cold seeming Raven, would be this way for as long as she lived.

While her teammates knew most of this, they knew nothing of the final conclusions she had made. While she wanted to tell them the only person who had no tact and might give her a hard time about it would be Beast boy.

Her eyes closed as she thought about him and almost laughed but brought it back under control quickly.

He was unredeemable…but he was dependable in an emergency, and despite his pranks and comments, she knew the team wouldn't be the same without him.

After a few moments, she sighed softly…this was getting her nowhere, so she went back to what she was doing originally.

Clearing her mind of outside influences, Raven began to sink into her meditation stance.

Through this practice, she was able to keep her emotions, and therefore her power in check when not in her happy place. She thought again for a moment as she contemplated that perhaps she had grown too accustomed to being stand offish, or maybe she like so many others were afraid of change…she didn't know for sure, but what she did know was there really was no place for her in this world. She was raised in another dimension, and to be honest it didn't bother her too much that here, she was seen as cold and unyielding. She had her own escape mechanism, and as long as she had that and her teammates…she would survive.

O

Beast boy really wanted to do something…well anything but train. Robin and Star were out in the training grounds…probably making out, so no chance to hang with them. Cyborg was being a butthead, and Raven was probably meditating.

With a sigh he flopped down on the couch in front of the television and flipped channels until he got bored with that. Sadly that didn't take too long.

"Gah I'm so bored!!" He shouted as he threw himself fully into the cushions and wondered why no bad guys ever did anything when they needed to do something. "I mean come on! They always decide to rob a bank or jewelry store when we're in the middle of a game, or eating or just hanging out together. But here I am…bored out of my skull, and do they do anything? NOOOOOOO!"

Beast boy looked around the room, but didn't see anything that caught his eye until he looked at the master computer.

With a shrug he walked over to the control panel and sat in the chair as he looked at all the buttons and displays.

Beast boy barely knew anything about the computer…other than it controlled everything in Titans tower, and could monitor almost anything.

With a sly grin he typed a few keys and brought the map program up.

As soon as it was loaded, he began scanning random parts of the city.

At first he was just zooming in on buildings and parks, but then he rolled the cursor over the beach and as soon as he zoomed in, he began drooling.

Our little beast boy seemed to be going through a hormonal period as he stared at all the bikini clad women that were frolicking and tanning on the beach.

"Alright!" He cheered. "Titans gone wild!" He almost growled out as he hopped into the chair, and out of nowhere he produced a box of popcorn and settled down for a round of babe watching, boredom completely forgotten.

O

Across town, a new development was starting to rear its ugly head.

A bank was in the progress of being robbed, and it was no ordinary robbery.

A tall, muscular man clad in black stood in the middle of the bank, arms crossed over his chest.

Another man stood to the side, hands glowing yellow as he glared around him, and two men could be seen running in and out of the vault, filling bags with money,

A fifth man cam towards the man in black who was obviously the leader. "What is it Lava?"

The man in umber stood closer and said quietly. "We've been here ten minutes already, five more minutes Monolith and we'll be pushing our luck."

Monolith looked down at him then nodded. "Tell them to speed it up, we leave in three."

Lava nodded then jogged over to tell the two loading money to speed up.

The man called Monolith looked on impassively.

The man didn't notice the one teller behind the counter activate silent alarm.

O

Beast boy grinned as he produced another box of popcorn from a seemingly magical source and began too much away happily as he watched scantily clad females bounce a frolic on the beach.  
He began to think today was too nice of a day to be inside…_maybe I'll hit the_ _beach_ he thought with a lecherous grin.

But as his plan began to form, lights began flashing on the computer screens and an alarm was going off in the tower.

Beast boy freaked completely out and began punching buttons and flicking switches in a panic, but nothing he touched changed the picture on the main screen.

Finally after doing god knows what to the system, Beast boy got the screen to clear, as Robin came in…and scared the crap out of him. "What happened?"

Beast boy screamed like a girl that just touched her first frog, before stammering out "I wasn't looking at babes in bikinis…honest!"

Robin just frowned at the teen and hit a few switches and brought up a city map which had a red blip flashing on it. Naruto zoomed in then announced over the intercom. "We have a silent alarm tripped over at the First National Bank. This was no accident so it probably has bad guys there…be ready team. Titans, Move!" he shouted as Star Fire flew through a window, and Beast boy turned into a hawk, swiftly following her.

O

Cyborg growled at the timing, and put down his welding tip.

Looking forlornly at the arm, he shrugged and grabbed one of his spares. "I'll finish it later." He said as he clicked and locked the arm in place and walked out the room's door.

As he made it around the corner, Robin ran past him to the vehicle hangar, and hopped on his motor cycle.

Cyborg reached the T-car, and climbed in. Firing up the engine, he followed Robin out of the secret hangar and to their destination.

O

The group of five men stepped out into the daylight, seemingly unconcerned with anything.

Their nonchalant attitude seemed strangely out of place for what they had just done.

One of the smaller men looked over at monolith and shrugged. "Now what?"

Monolith grimaced as he took a step down. "We go east." He said as he pointed to their left.

As the group began to step away from the bank, a star bolt struck the pavement in front of them, bringing them to a halt.  
Star fire dropped out of the sky and hovered in their path, her eyes blazing green in indignation. "It is not proper for you to take what is not yours!"

A second later Beast boy landed where she hovered and transformed into his normal state. "Yeah what she said…and some of that money is probably mine!"

Monolith chuckled at the kids attitudes as the man in Umber spoke up. "Hey Monolith…you think we have time to make some Titan pancakes? There's only two of them."

Monolith grinned as he dropped the bags he was carrying and the others in his group followed suit. "Sure…we can spank these kids before we go spend our loot. Two titans should be a snap, especially since the only challenge here is her." He said as he pointed at Star fire.

"Hey!" Beast boy yelled but almost immediately after, a new voice came in from the bad guys left. "Three."

Raven seemed to appear out of thin air and also hovered in front of the group of five, blocking off another escape route.

Monolith grinned as he pointed to Raven. "And this one speaks in numbers. Still two or three is not much of a challenge, we'll be in time for happy hour."

"Oh I don't think your going anywhere, except jail." A male voice said from behind them. Monolith turned and one of the guys dressed in black grumbled. "Their like cockroaches, they keep popping up."

And a second later, Cyborg landed next to Robin. "Yeah, but these roaches do the stomping."

A serious air had developed as both teams had five members, but the tension was interrupted by Beast boy. "Cy…tell me you didn't just call us cockroaches."

Cyborg shrugged as he popped his neck. "Hey it was all I could come with on short notice."

Robin stared at the five men, and realized they were new players in town, and new villains were never a good thing.

"Who are you?"

Monolith grinned wider before he gestured at his crew. "We're the Earthenites, and we're going to be the new thing in this town, right after we crush the five of you."

Cyborg mumbled loud enough so Robin could hear him, "I got the big guy."

Robin's eyes narrowed and he nodded as he pulled something out of his utility pouch, and it expanded into his battle staff. "You'll find we don't crush easy. Titans, GO!"

He shouted and the teen titans exploded into action.

O

Robin sprang forward as the Earthenites spread out, fully intending to hit the large one and distract him for Cyborg, but as his staff struck the large man in the head, Robin was knocked from the air to the ground by a large mass of stone, causing him to groan in pain as he tried to regain his bearings.

Raven began to engage the one in grey who just hit Robin. He was able to conjure chunks of stone from thin air and hurl them around.

Raven mostly blocked the incoming attacks as she searched for an opening.

Beast boy charged another dressed in brown who stood impassively until at the last second he threw his hands in the air, and beast boy ran head first into a wall of stone…knocking him silly.

Star fire was throwing star bolts at another who was dressed in dark umber, and she continued to try and talk the enemy down even as she attacked. "Please do not make me hurt you…I only want you to obey the law!"

The man in Umber smirked before moved one arm like he was throwing something, and a ball of fire travelled towards Star fire.

The gold skinned titan dodged one, then another, but the third hit and made her scream in pain as she realized it wasn't fire at all…but molten rock!

Despite earlier thoughts by anyone, it seemed this would turn out to be harder then they anticipated.

O

Cyborg and the Monolith squared off, and neither moved for a moment. Then Monolith broke the stalemate as he charged forward, and Cyborg met him halfway, ducking under the punch the man threw, and coming up with an uppercut that knocked the man back two steps.

Looking at Cyborg, Monolith grinned as he rubbed his jaw. "Not bad kid…not bad…but I've felt better."

Cyborg nodded back. "Oh it get's better."

The two combatants charged each other again, and blows were exchanged by both men, until Monolith got in a punch that drove Cyborg to the ground.

Victor was surprised. The man just looked big…but he was a true powerhouse for him to feel that punch through his armor.

Victor rolled away quickly as a foot came down where his head was previously, and a shot from his sonic cannon drove the man back, giving Cyborg enough time to regain his feet.

Monolith laughed now as he nodded to Victor Stone. "Alright kid…I'm through playing around now that I know what you can do…let's take this up a notch!"

And the ground seemed to rumble as the earth around Monolith seemed to move towards and flow over him until it was close to ten feet in height.

The mound became man shaped, and even eyes and a mouth appeared where a head should be.

Cyborg looked at the changed monolith and wondered what he was in for.

A large hand sending him flying back through a building was his answer.

Despite the pain, Cyborg climbed to his feet, hit Monolith with a double sonic cannon blast, and charged forward.

But now every time he got close, he was hammered to the ground, or knocked back.

Cyborg's frustration was growing…he was better then this.

No two bit hood was going to keep him down!

As Victor thought this, a mocking voice called down to him. "Is this it? Is this all the strongest of the teen titans has to offer?"

Victor growled in anger and ran forward, dodging one swing of the giants hand, then another, before barreling his shoulder into Monolith's ankle, making him wobble for a second. "I'm no where near done!!" He shouted as he punched the same ankle and a crack appeared in Monolith's form.

Unfortunately, Monolith got his bearings and swatted Cyborg away, back into another building as he laughed. "How pathetic…is this the best the little robot can do?"

Cyborg felt a white heat start in his belly and began to spread to the rest of his body, as the word repeated over and over again in his mind.

Robot…

Robot…

Robot…

Victor stones head came up and a strange grin was on his face, cybernetic eye blazing red in the low light. "You want a robot? I'll give you a robot!!" he screamed before his voice changed to an inarticulate roar and Victor Stone charged again.

O

Robin had slowly regained his feet and surveyed the battle. Raven had her opponent under control, surrounded by her shadow energy, Star fire was dodging magma shots, and knocking her opponent around with star bolts, while beast boy continued to bash through the other Eathenites walls.

Then Robin noticed what they had set up as Beast boy charged through a wall as a triceratops, and slammed into the back of the man in Umber, laying him out in that one hit, and Star fire's star bolts nailed the earth user in brown, knocking him out as well.

Raven deposited the unconscious man from inside her shadow next to his companions so the police could handle them, when the other four titans turned at Cyborg's scream of anger.

The man who had been their long time team mate seemed to move faster then any of them could remember seeing, but he made no effort to dodge Monolith's hand as it came crashing towards him.

Robin's shout of, "Cyborg, look out!"

Went unheeded, but at the last second the man machine caught the offending extremity, and with a roar broke the two end fingers off!

Monolith shouted in pain, and looked stupidly at the damage, before he shouted out again.

Cyborg not waiting had charged in and was pulverizing Monolith's left leg, fists hammering again and again until the shin split up the middle and the leg collapsed under the Earthenites weight.

Cyborg charged the head as it was close to his level now, but Monolith with a look of fear on his face, swatted Cyborg away, but it was only strong enough to make him skid sideways a few feet.

To monolith's growing horror, Cyborg charged in again and was now hammering into his side with loud slamming hits that made rock and dirt fly everywhere.

The Titans stood stunned as they watched their team mate batter Monolith in never before seen fury.

Monolith' feeling the pain of every hit to his earth form, finally lost concentration, and the earth and dirt around him became inert, falling to the ground.

Victor Stone continued to batter and smash his way in until he happened on the form of Monolith inside of the earth.

"Alright kid…you got me. I'll go quietly." He said with a smirk, until Cyborg grabbed him and hauled him out of the earth, then threw him through a plate glass window of a store!

Monolith, cut and battered now tried to crawl away from the unrelenting Cyborg. "Wait…stop…I SURRENDER!"

He screamed as Cyborg held him up by his tattered shirt, then punched him with enough force that it imbedded him in the wall.

During the entire fight, Cyborg's grin hadn't changed, and his cybernetic eye seemed to flair more brightly as he began to close on Monolith.

The Titans seeing that something was definitely wrong charged over. Robin was the first to arrive, but sensing his approach, back handed Robin away without even looking.

Star fire and Beast boy in his gorilla form grabbed his arms and tried to hold him. "Yo Cy calm down, it's over we won!!"

And Star fire strained mightily against Cyborg's strength. "Yes! Friend Cyborg…please stop kicking…the butt!!"

With what seemed to be a shrug, Beast boy was thrown across the room of the now abandoned store, than almost as quickly threw Star fire in the other direction, knocking over Robin for the second time that day.

Raven entered the fray, by wrapping bands of black energy around him, but her eyes opened in surprise as she began to feel the strain of trying to contain Cyborg, and was failing!

Raven immediately lowered herself to the ground to give herself more power, but she was only just holding, sweat pouring down her brow, and her arms beginning to visibly shake. Cyborg had never displayed such power before, and Azeroth help her he seemed to be getting stronger!

Beast boy reemerged as a giant squid and wrapped his tentacles around Cyborg, adding the slippery, elastic strength of this form to help restrain his friend, before Star fire arrived again and helped by also wrapping her arms around him.

Robin immediately grabbed Cyborg's face, pulling his eyes down to look at him as he shouted, "Cyborg! Come on man snap out of it! It's done…we won!!"

For a few tense seconds, nothing seemed to happen, then Cyborg's robotic eye seemed to lose it's glow, and his human eye focused on Robin.

Looking confused, he looked down at the tentacles and Star fire's arms wrapped around him and quickly thought of something flippant to say to defuse whatever had happened. "Come on guys…if you wanted to hug all you had to do was ask"

Robin blinked at him before he narrowed his eyes. "You ok Cy? You seemed to have lost it for a moment."

Victor frowned as he shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah I'm fine…just the heat of the moment I guess."

Robin studied his face for a few minutes before he nodded and smiled at him. "Well it's good to see you're ok."

"Well of course…nothings wrong with the old Cy man that a few minutes with an arc welder can't fix!"

At Robin's nod, everyone let Cyborg go and he walked casually with Beast boy at his side. "Come on BB…let's pick up the trash."

Beast boy looked at Cyborg and nodded before he said hesitantly. "Um…sure."

Raven kept watch on the other Earthenites and Robin stared after Cyborg as he picked up the unconscious Monolith.

Star fire walked over and asked him in a worried voice, "Robin…what is wrong with friend Cyborg?"

Robin's eyes narrowed again as he mumbled. "I don't know Star…I don't know.

O

Next Episode: Falling is easy…


	3. Chapter 3

**Half a Man**

**Chapter 3**

Robin watched the readout on the central computer with a frown as the information scrolled across the screen.

The rest had all gone to bed or what ever it was that they did when they retired for the night…but the previous battle with the Earthenites and Cyborg's obvious loss of control had him more concerned with his team, and what this new behavior on Cyborg's part could mean.

Cyborg had always been a bit of a hothead…everyone knew that, and they all accepted it as a part of his personality, the same way everyone accepted that Robin was a loner most of the time and shouldered things that weren't his fault.

Part of that was because of growing up around batman…of course no one knew that it was also because of growing up around Bruce Wayne.

Bruce always had a way of making everything his responsibility…even when he wasn't directly involved.

That was one of the reasons Robin finally left and helped form the Teen Titans.

There was nowhere in Bruce's mentality for Robin to be an equal partner, and Robin was tired of being the sidekick.

Of course, Robin would deny the facts vehemently, but he had become just like his mentor without even realizing it.

Granted…Robin had grown a little away from such behavior in the time he was with the titans…but old habits were hard to break.

Focusing intently on one section his eyes narrowed as he read the information.

Cyborg had been rising in the middle of the night…for a little over a month now.

With only three hours of downtime a night, it was a good possibility that he wasn't getting enough mental rest and it was causing him to become unbalanced.

Robin didn't see any major abnormalities in Cyborg's system operations, so could not account for why this was happening.

This was the first time where Cyborg had lost total control though…so it was possible this was an outside incident and wouldn't occur again.

But if Robin learned one thing from his mentor, it was to never assume anything.

As he reached to type in a new command string, a quiet soothing voice reached his ears.

"Robin…are you coming to bed?"

Robin turned and smiled at Star fire as she came further into the light.

She was wearing a pink hello kitty nightgown and was rubbing her left eye sleepily.

Robin couldn't help but chuckle as he pressed a button on the computer, closing the information he was reviewing.

What the other titans didn't know was that Robin and Star had been sleeping together at night in her room or his alternating every couple of days.

A week after Tokyo…Robin found out that Star wanted them to be more Tamaranian then he was aware of.

They discussed it, and Robin while incredibly wary of the idea, decided to give it a try when she assured him it was not sexual with a shy blush on her cheeks.

Tamaranian couples slept with each other once they became attached, because it allowed for a closer bonding, and would prepare them for their future together. It was also a way to share comfort within the bonds of a relationship without breaking any taboo subjects.

Sex would not come until certain rituals had been performed and they were established as "life partners".

While Robin already believed he and Star would have a very long and happy relationship, marriage was still far in the future…so he thought. It wasn't easy at first though.

The first night…neither could get comfortable, because neither had done this before and both felt a feeling of wrongness, maybe because Star fire slept in the nude, and he kept having odd reactions to her…until Robin asked her to sleep in something more appropriate. She still didn't wear panties to bed, but the nightgown made him much more comfortable with the new condition.

After that they seemed to settle into a more relaxed rhythm, and now neither could think of sleeping without the other.

Who would have thought the hard nosed Robin liked to cuddle?

Their only headache with each other was they were both cover hogs and they would spend most of the night stealing the covers from each other…that and Star's pet "Silky" would always try to muscle his way in between the two of them.

He smiled as he looked at her. "Yeah Kor…I'm done for the night. I just wanted to finish some thoughts I was having."

Star fire smiled at him as she rested her hand on his shoulder. "It is about friend Cyborg is it not?"

Robin's frown faltered then he nodded. "Yeah…that day is still bothering me a bit. I don't know if anything is wrong with him…but if there is I hope he will come to us and tell us. So far though he insists he just got angry."

Star fire cocked her head to the right as she looked at Robin with her grin still in place. "Perhaps he is in need of the vacation…or maybe time to play the box with X that goes all the way around with friend Beast Boy?"

After all this time, Robin still enjoyed her innocent banter as he reached over and took her hand. "Maybe…and it's called Xbox 360…I guess all we can do is wait and see what happens."

Star fire nodded as she mumbled, "Xbox three sixty." as she followed Robin, hand in hand up the stairs for a snuggle filled, restful night.

Unfortunately…not all of the titans would be resting this night.

O

The night was cool this time, and the moon decided it would hide behind the clouds.

Of course it did make an appearance every now and then, and Cyborg was content letting it play peek a boo as he stared across the water.

It wasn't like he could do otherwise…It was just a human foible to think that you could control something you couldn't or had no right to.

With a humorless chuckle he looked down at his new arm and hand and shook his head. _Human…yeah right. Nobody could call me that anymore…not by a long shot._

Semantics could be argued that the man inside the machine was being idiotic…a person is not the sum of their parts, but the way they acted, how they treated others, the way they thought.

Sadly Cyborg hadn't thought anything good about himself for a long time.

After eight years of being a machine he was tired.

He couldn't just shut down though…as much as he wanted to it wasn't a thing he could do.

A failsafe was programmed into his computer that he didn't have the experience or knowledge to override.

**Flashback**

He lay in the bed staring at the ceiling, arms restrained and cybernetic systems reduced to minimal power so that he couldn't break free.

His father stood over him, a disapproving frown on his face as Victor just starred at the white tile above him.

"I'm sorry son…but this is for your own good." Elija Stone said as he picked up a tool and began to tinker with Victor's cranium plate.

Victor felt something in his head release, and almost immediately he felt cables being attached to his access jacks. "What are you doing?" He shouted as he wanted to struggle but couldn't. "It's my life damn it! You have no right to take my choice away from me!!"

Elijah said nothing as he finished the final connection then began hammering away on the keyboard.  
His face a grim mask as Victor watched him from the corner of his eye, his father repeated himself.

"I'm sorry son…but this IS for your own good." With those words Elijah Stone pressed the enter key and Victor's mouth opened in a silent scream of pain as the computer went in and wrote to his hard drive in a sector that even in the future, he would not be able to access.

Victor didn't know how long he was out, but when he woke up he could move again, and he slowly sat up in the bed.  
Looking around and not seeing his father, Victor hurriedly climbed out of the bed and clanked over to the surgical table.

On it he saw the scalpel he tried to use before and grabbed it, but as soon as he raised it to his throat all internal servos shut down, and his body fell to the floor.

"I'm so disappointed in you Victor." Cyborg could hear from somewhere behind him. "There are many things to live for even as you are, and you persist to try and kill yourself when instead you could become a shining example to people everywhere on how you overcame and defied the odds."

Victor growled at first before he screamed out, "I don't want to be a god damn example! I want to be a man, a human man without all of this crap that you've put me in!!"

Elijah frowned before he came over and released the servo locking mechanism on his sons systems. "I won't argue with you Victor…but if you try to kill yourself, your systems will lock you out until you are released again or in four hours, whichever comes first."  
Elijah Stone looked thoughtful for a moment as Victor stood up and faced him. "I have taken quite a few precautions this time…anything the system considers as you trying to commit suicide, the computer will either take over, or it will shut you down…so even not eating as painful a death as that would be or throwing yourself off a building won't work."

Victor just glared at his father before he clanked back to the bed and sat on it. "Thanks dad," He said with a large amount of bitterness evident in his voice. "Not only am I a slave to this body, but to you too."

Elijah frowned but turned and left the room and Victor to his thoughts.

**Present**

Now Victor Stone just stood and looked out over the water before taking a deep breath and letting it out in a huff.

He had found the way to disable the servo lock…but the computer in his head stopped him in other more subtle ways until he finally accepted the fact that he would probably die of old age or corrosion whichever came first.

Sure…he tried to disconnect the compute and reset it…but found out the hard way that his memories were integrated in both his human and computer brain. If he shut the computer down, the system considered him trying to commit suicide…no dice.

_Well…even with all the crap in my life, at least there are some things I can look forward to…like trying out this new arm in combat._

Victor grinned as he looked down at it again. If he had finished it earlier he could have tried it out against Monolith…he was fairly sure one or two hits would have been more then enough to take him out.

He closed his hand into a fist then nodded as he looked down at the gleaming metal. "Soon enough, maybe even tomorrow the way super villains and crazies come out around this city." He said aloud to no one as he looked out over the water again.

He wondered what he would have done if he had never become a machine…if he had been a normal kid that grew up and went to college.

Victor was athletic when he was younger and played Pee Wee football, and had started playing lacrosse when football season was done. He also enjoyed some of the track events and fancied himself getting a scholarship once he was ready for college…and then the accident happened.

It was amazing but when he actually attempted to go back to school, he never got a chance to get the stares or ridicule that he expected. The superintendent refused to admit him.

The man's excuse was that with a computer in his head he had an unfair advantage and other students would be envious of him, causing bad feelings and maybe even violence…and he wanted nothing to do with that.

But Victor didn't want to return to school to learn…he wanted to fit in again, if only a little.

Once he became the man in the machine, none of his friends came to see him, call him…nothing. His messages went unanswered, and even a few people he would see in the street he knew, would cross the street to avoid him, or just pretend he wasn't there.

After that…he pretty much stayed to himself.

Victor pretended he didn't care anymore, but the truth was a part of him would always cry for the youth he had lost, and the things he couldn't change.

His mind suddenly shifted and he thought about what robin and the others had said to him…he had lost control.

He didn't think much about the earlier episode, in fact after a few minutes he brushed it off.

_Monolith had a beat down comin…I was only happy to give it to him._ _Besides, we faced Doctor Light The Brotherhood since then, and I didn't lose it. _He justified to himself. _Anyway…no one got hurt…I just lost my temper is all…no big deal._

Nothing argued or contradicted with him, so why worry?

But somewhere in the back of his mind, something burned, and waited for it's chance to break free again and Victor was completely ignorant to it, so he thought.

Cyborg knew he was in complete control. "I just need to get a good nights sleep." He mumbled out loud.

Of course, he hadn't had one of those in some time.

After a couple of minutes mulling that over he nodded to himself before turning and walking back into the tower. Tomorrow was a new day with new things to worry about. With unsurprising ease for the man known as Cyborg, he pushed aside a worry that he should have focused more on.

O

Raven sat on her bed with a frown on her face.

It seemed Cyborg and Robin weren't the only ones with things on their minds interrupting their sleep.

She had a throbbing headache and she supposed that was what woke her up.

Raven's headache however had to do with her past as well as Cyborg's, but hurt her in different ways.

Even after Raven defeated her father, and reincorporated her purged feelings, she was having trouble getting used to them. There were times when she would laugh giddily for no reason, or start crying over nothing.

She eventually she had to lock them away again because she was becoming a mess, and losing control of her powers once more…and would be no use to anyone like that.

But even with a tight reign on her emotions once again, Raven couldn't stop everything.

She had begun to feel, empty for lack of a better word.

And to be honest she missed some of her happier feelings…which is why she kept going back to her happy place.

Raven chuckled humorlessly as she thought about that.

No one would ever think she had one of those…which is why it made it more special…like a forbidden drug she kept hidden from everyone…her own little dirty secret.

She really wished she could share this wonderful thing with someone…but she also knew that the others might tell her it's silly, that she should let her emotions out…well some of them anyway…but she saw big conflicts with that.

She couldn't really see herself like Star Fire…or god forbid, "Beast boy!" She muttered aloud.

With a shudder she got up and walked into her bathroom and looked in the mirror.

Usually, Raven slept in a pair of dark pajama pants and t-shirt…tonight seemed different for her though so she forewent her usual routine, and slept in her panties, (Black of course) and a black wife beater.

She frowned at herself in the mirror before sticking her tongue out and looking down her own throat as best she could.

She didn't feel sick…so that couldn't be what was keeping her awake…maybe she was suffering from withdrawal…then frowned as she shook her head at the thought.

She did miss it, but not that badly.

Raven popped two aspirin and chugged half a glass of water before she walked back and sat on her bed again.

Running a hand through her hair she wondered if anyone else was up.

She entertained the idea of making herself a cup of tea, but then shook her head with a frown and lay back down in the bed. _Garfield might be up…and I really don't feel like dealing with him._ She thought as she closed her eyes and tried to relax enough to let sleep claim her again.

Then there was the other problem that she didn't want to do, but might have to.

Cyborg…he seemed like such a decent guy. But lately the things she felt coming from him made her almost wince in sympathy.

She wasn't sure when it started, but she started to notice a week before his episode.

She thought a little more then nodded to herself.

She would talk to Robin tomorrow, Cyborg needed help, and the Titans needed to support their team mate.

With a final sigh, Raven pushed all of her previous thoughts away and finally settled into a peaceful seeming sleep.

O

Two weeks and three battles later…

Robin watched the battle roms that Cyborg had downloaded to the main computer and could see no fault or any sign of him losing control again.

Cyborg had been the perfect titan, cracking jokes at their enemies' expense, using superb teamwork, and taking their enemies down with his strength and durability.

There were no lingering signs of the last time, the time he lost all control and continued to bash on the defeated Monolith.

Robin frowned at the monitor, than shrugged as he heard Beast boy, and Cyborg behind him playing on the Xbox, with Star fire cheering them on.

Beast boy bought a new fighting game, to celebrate their recent victory over Doctor Light, and convinced Cyborg to join him. Star seeing the guys going at it said she would play the winner, in her usually cute way. "I will challenge the winner of this game of fun!"

Robin had to admit…things seemed back to normal.

Victor was still getting up around midnight, but if he showed no signs of mental fatigue or any more berserk, angry attacks, then there wasn't much he could do about it short of subduing him…and that wouldn't be easy.

He had a couple of ideas based on what he knew of Cyborg's computer and cybernetic components, but nothing that he knew he could rely on one hundred percent.

As Robin wondered how they could stop Cyborg if he went nuts again, Raven came over and interrupted his thoughts. "Robin, could I talk to you for a minute…away from the others?"

Robin blinked in surprise then nodded as he stood up quietly and gestured for her to follow him.

Raven and Robin went to a quieter part of the tower, a lounge next to the training room where Beast boy had set up a smoothie machine a year ago, and hadn't used it since because it was a pain in the ass to clean. Typical Beast Boy.

As he sat he looked at Raven curiously. "What's up Raven?"

The girl they knew as Raven pushed her hood off and slowly rests her hands on the table. "I'm worried about Cyborg."

Robin frowned at her before he asked the inevitable question. "Why? What do you know about him?"

Raven took a deep breath and looked Robin in the eye. "He is becoming unbalanced. His mental state is deteriorating rapidly." Robin's eyes narrowed as he knew his instincts were right, but it was hard to believe that the man who smiled and joked with them was falling apart. "How do you know this Raven? What makes you so sure?"

Raven took a deep breath and let it out in a huff as she thought of a simple way to explain it. "I can't really tell you how I do it, but I can sense emotions as they are being used. It might be because of my lack of emotions, or it might be a latent ability that is only now starting to emerge…I don't know, but if I look at someone, I can sense what they are feeling. For Cyborg, he is empty on the inside. It isn't really noticeable on the surface, but I can also tell...I can feel it. He has been like this for weeks now, steadily getting worse…when he smiles, it's just a mask he wears…there is no feeling behind it or anything else he shows us. Right now there are only two emotions he has that still work normally. Sorrow and anger. Under normal conditions his other emotions would balance these two, but since he doesn't feel joy, happiness or any of the other pleasant emotions…his mind is breaking…it's almost like he is becoming the machine he inhabits."

Raven looked imploringly at Robin and surprised him with what she said next. "Eventually, he's going to snap Dick…and I'm worried we won't be able to bring him back."

Richard Grayson's head dropped in thought.

He may not show it much, but Cyborg was his friend…hell they were all his friends. _I don't know what brought this on, but damn it…he could have told us_!

Before he could think more or say anything Raven interrupted him. "The way you told us that you were X?"

Robin's eyes widened as he looked at her and she shook her head. "No I didn't read your mind…but when you go deep in thought your face betrays the emotion. Just now you looked angry and betrayed."

Robin pushed his feelings aside and nodded to her. He didn't know much about Victor Stone's past, so he really couldn't see what would make this happen. "You're right. Maybe he isn't aware of what's happening to him. I think we need to sit down as a team and talk about it, let him know we're here for him." Robin frowned for a moment before he looked up at her again. "Can you guess when this started?"

Raven shrugged a little helplessly. "I can't say for sure…he wasn't like this in Tokyo, or with our last fight with the Hive…the only thing that happened after that was…"

And Robin nodded…"Six weeks ago." He said in a voice that held a slight hint of anger.

Raven nodded solemnly, but before he could try and formulate any kind of plan, the battle alert went off, and they both jumped up and rushed back to the common room. Star fire, Cyborg, and Beast boy were at the terminal, and Cyborg was flitting through keys and toggles before he grinned. "Action is at the docks, Maritime Industries? Who would hit them? They only deal in chemicals and chemical waste."

Robin frowned in frustration before he consulted Cyborg. "Do we know who it is?"

Cyborg began pecking keys furiously before he actually showed a true smile. "Two of them, both big, I'll try and zoom in with the satellite cam."

And Cyborg rolled a track ball and clicked a few times on the screen with the cursor. The screen zoomed in, once, twice, three times and they could get a rough idea of who the two were. "It looks like Cinder block and Atlas?" He said in a shocked voice. "What would those two be doing together?"

Robin blinked as he thought about it briefly but was interrupted by Cyborg's outburst. "Doesn't matter…I finally get to test out this baby in actual combat!"

Cyborg tapped his right arm causing many curious expressions to come his way. Raven went from confused to concern in seconds as Robin looked at her with a question on his face and she shook her head in the negative slowly.

When Cyborg shouted in glee, there was no joy as they thought he showed, but anticipation, and a faint feeling of anger that wanted to grow…and be released.

Robin considered the consequences and shook his head. Whatever happened they had to stop Cinder block and Atlas…and Atlas had defeated all of the titans single handedly at one point, so they couldn't do this without him. "Alright…Beast Boy, Raven, go with Cyborg in the T-car…I'm on my bike, Star you're with me…Titans move!"

The team turned as one and sprinted for the vehicle hangar.

Within moments, the titan's hangar opened and the team made it's way to yet another battle. Whatever happened, they were on their way.

O

Atlas was moving barrels onto a floating palate while Cinder block brought and loaded crates. They weren't sure why he wanted them, but they knew that what he wanted, he got.

Neither spoke to the other…they just quickly and efficiently loaded the palate.

That came to a halt as the Teen Titans burst into the room courtesy of Cyborg's Sonic cannon as Robin stepped forward of the group. "Drop the chemicals, and come along peacefully."

Atlas's metal face smirked before he answered. "Or what?"

Robin returned the smirk before he answered. "Or be subdued."

Cinder block roared as Atlas laughed. "I have beaten you Titans before, and I have made drastic improvements since then. I can say with confidence, No one can beat Atlas!"  
When he said his name, Atlas threw the barrel at them, and the titans scattered as Robin cried out, "Titans, GO!"

Star fire and Beast boy went after Cinder block, while Robin, Raven, and Cyborg went after Atlas.

Star fire threw bolt after bolt of energy at Cinder block, but he seemed to shrug each one off with no visible effect, just as Beast boy became a stegosaurus and knocked Cinder block off his feet with a massive swing of his spiked tail. Cinder Block crashed into a pile of crates but was slowly rising again.

O

Raven watched as Robin leapt and struck Atlas with a mighty blow from his battle staff. Causing him to stagger, but a swift backhand, much faster then Atlas could previously move, knocked him aside as Cyborg hammered the large robot in the chest.

"Come on Atlas, I beat you before, I can beat you again!" The metal clad titan shouted as he punched Atlas with enough force to knock him side ways.

Atlas rose to his feet and he charged forward until he hit Cyborg in the chest with a fist, but the blow had no power behind it. Raven blinked as she watched Atlas's arm change shape and shouted a warning to Cyborg.

Cyborg's eye opened wide as he recognized what it was now. Atlas grinned again in Cyborg's worried face as he growled. "Say hello to my shatter cannon." And fired directly into the titan's chest at point blank range!

Cyborg screamed in pain as he was thrown through a pile of crates, and the building wall. Raven cried out to him, but knew she couldn't help her team mate and leave her other team mates to Atlas's and Cinder blocks less then tender mercy.

Raven threw a bolt of pure black energy at the robot known as Atlas, which took him off his feet with a yell, before she turned and performed her usual chant. "Azerath Metrion Zinthos!" she yelled and picked a large pile of crates up with her powers, then dumped them unceremoniously on Atlas's head, burying him under the pile as he was getting up again.

Meanwhile Cinder block had knocked Beast boy aside and was going to charge the rising form of Robin, until Star fire flew in and dealt Cinder block a solid right cross to what would be his jaw, knocking him back a step, then a follow up left cross which made him stumble a few steps.

Star fire, without thinking shouted, "Today you will be lying on your back you…you…blockhead!" just before she clenched both hands together, and knocked Cinder block up into the air, where beast boy in the form of a humming bird transformed into a Mastodon and with a trumpeting cry landed on the chest of Cinder block, driving him into the ground with bone numbing force, and for all intents and purposes, knocking him out of the fight.

The Titans quickly regrouped as Atlas burst from the makeshift prison that Raven put him in.

The Titans were ready to move and give it their all until the wall to their left exploded inward.

O

Victor Stone's body hurt.

Correction, his cybernetic systems were blaring warnings at him that he had sustained major damage to his chest and abdomen. Cyborg fought to open his eyes, but everything was dark and he couldn't seem to move.

In his mind, the computer interface showed him a diagram of the damage, and it was pretty bad he had to admit to himself. His chest armor was completely gone, and he was bleeding…actually bleeding from his chest where his cybernetics was damaged and some of his flesh that remained from the original accident was exposed.

Cyborg in his mind franticly began shutting systems that were unnecessary down and rerouting the power and nano repair bots to the more seriously damaged areas.

Victor knew it was bad, but he also knew he had to get back up…he wasn't done yet. Not by a long shot.  
Anger began to blossom from his own stupidity. He knew Atlas had an entire slew of weapons, but it was never internalized like his were.

In a few seconds the bleeding had stopped, but it would be days before the rest of his systems that were damaged could be completely repaired without help.

With a growl to himself, Victor Stone overrode the computer's safety protocols, with the intent to be useful, not suicidal, and he felt consciousness return and he blinked his eye rapidly before he forced himself to his feet, and wobbled a little before he was able to stabilize himself.

He looked down and saw the damage, and growled as he realized the computer didn't lie to him. _Like it could._ He thought bitterly for a moment before he checked his internal power.

_Internal power is down, running off batteries only. I can fire the cannon maybe one time before it completely breaks down…but I have enough power in the capacitors and the batteries to power my right arm three times, and still be mobile. After that it's dicey._

Victor started to feel sad as the hopelessness of the situation made him want to sit down and let the nanobots do their job, but something seemed to spur him on, like a voice pushing him to do more despite the dangers.

With a feral growl Cyborg stabilized his systems as much as he could before he agreed with the feeling…he had to go on.

With a grin that as more habit then emotional, Cyborg pointed his left arm at the wall in front of him, then fired his sonic cannon and nodded in satisfaction as a large majority of the wall was blown inward, and he charged forward through the rubble as his left arm changed back to normal, and his right arm took on a new shape.

Star fire was the first to see him and gasped out in shock, "Friend Cyborg!" before the other titans looked and saw why she was so worried.

It was true Cyborg's chest armor was gone, only a few tattered edges remained, but he had what appeared to be conduits and wiring also hanging out, and the red stains made them hope it was some form of hydraulic fluid then what it really looked like.

Atlas grinned as he saw the damage that he had done and nodded in approval. "My new mechanic was right, the shatter cannon can take down any robot, even one as defective as you."

A light seemed to go off behind Cyborg's robotic eye, and the eerie glow it cast made his fellow titans have mixed feelings. Beast boy was a slight hint of fear, because Cyborg looked scary. _Like some half man, half machine zombie._

Star fire was pure worry from the damage that was obvious on him.

_We cannot let friend Cyborg fight like this…I do not want to see him further hurt! _

Robin reached to his utility belt and touched something in thought. Not wanting to use it, but ready to if the need arose. _Come on Cy…keep it under control…_

Raven's thoughts were the most different from the rest. _The pain…merciful Azerath how can he stand the pain? _She wondered as she could feel the waves of pain he was unknowingly putting out, but another emotion was about to overpower it. She felt it growing, and it was beginning to over shadow the man that was Victor Stone.

"You wanted me Atlas you got me. Your little friend was good, but let's see if mine's better."

Cyborg on unsteady feet wobbled, than seemed to get a full head of steam as he charged forward as the other titans stared at him in shock and that was when they noticed his arm.

The knuckles on the right hand were more pronounced, almost looking more like spikes on the face of his fist. The arm looked the way it normally did except at the elbow where it seemed to be more defined by a thick circular piece that was on top of what appeared to be a large pin, looking much like a heavy steel rivet used in the construction of buildings.

As Cyborg and Atlas came together, the pin moved inward, and smoke vented from somewhere on Victor's arm, just as their fists met, but Cyborg's fist seemed to jump forward an inch or two as he struck and he screamed out, "ATOMIC PILE!!"

Cyborg's fist struck, and completely shattered Atlas's arm, the energy from the new weapon traveling up the arm as he screamed in pain. Clutching at the now empty shoulder with his other hand, Atlas looked up just as Cyborg hit him with a left cross, and the pin reset on his arm and he did it again, blowing completely through Atlas's left shoulder.

In the blink of an eye, Cyborg saw himself or what was his mental self, and the wave of anger flowed toward him, offering the end of the pain, the end of the sorrow, and Victor Stone didn't even stop to think about it as he opened his arms to embrace what he had long wanted…peace.

Atlas fell to his knees and he stammered out, "No more…I am beaten…"

Cyborg's voice could barely be heard as he said, "So am I..."

And the pin on his arm reset and Robin screamed out, "CYBORG NO!!!"

But the fist came forward and destroyed what was once Atlas's head, spraying metal and fragments of computer and electrical components everywhere.

As the last of the charge in Cyborg's newest weapon left through the power of the blow, his arm returned to its normal configuration with one last burst of steam, but he didn't notice…he didn't notice anything, only his enemies as Atlas's body fell to the floor and Victor Stone turned his head and growled as the Titans heard Raven's voice as if from far away. "No…he's gone…" as she only sensed blinding anger coming from the man now turning towards them.

Cyborg's body turned to face the Titans, an insane glow in his robotic eye, but an unflinching stare in his human one, eye completely unfocused.

Cyborg had become the fabled berserker.  
Anything in his path or field of vision was his enemy…and enemies must be destroyed.

Cyborg's mouth opened and he roared at them as he charged.

O

Next issue: The past revealed, now you feel my pain…


	4. Chapter 4

**Half a Man**

**Chapter 4**

Beast boy limped over to the medicine cabinet and took out some aspirin and swallowed them without water before he turned and looked at his other teammates again. "So tell me again…what happened to Cy?"

Robin frowned as he stared at the diagnostic screen over Cyborg's bed. The nanobots were doing their job, especially now that power was restored to his main systems, but he was glad that he had been able to disable the man/machines servo motors after he had collapsed.

It had been a short battle, but in the span of minutes Victor had done what only a few had done, he had severely hurt the teen titans.

Beast boy had looked broken, his body still in the shape of a T-rex that Victor had taken out with three punches, Star fire was nursing a sore jaw and badly bruised arm, Robin had a gaggle of cuts and bruises, and Raven had faired no better.

Only two things had saved the teens that day, Cyborg's internal power had finally failed, and Robin had activated a remote he designed to shut down Victor's servo motors from a slight distance.

Robin was only fifty percent certain it would work at all, and thankfully it did.

"Remember when Cyborg lost it and kept beating on Monolith?"

At Beast boys nod, Robin continued. "Well it seems that it wasn't just a one time incident. I don't know what caused this…but it's happened again."

Beast boy was frowning at Robin before he looked at his metal friend again. "Well wake him up! I want to kick his butt for that last punch!"

Robin shook his head sadly. "I'm afraid it's not that simple. I'm no doctor or medical expert, but I have read that when something like this happens, the person wakes up in their own time…or not at all."

Star fire still looked worried but got even worse as Raven spoke up.

"It's actually worse then that. Before he attacked us, I felt nothing from him, only the rage. Cyborg might be…gone."

Star fire gasped loudly as she looked at Cyborg's impassive face. If no one knew better they would have thought he was just taking a nap. "But…friend Cyborg will be ok won't he Robin?"

Beast boy nodded eagerly as he stepped closer. "Yeah Cy's tough! You know nothing can stop him for long. He's gonna beat this." Beast boy's face softened as he looked at Robin's face, and the imploring look wasn't lost on Robin. "Won't he?" Beast boy said in a quiet begging voice.

Robin said nothing as he looked at the monitor again.

He just didn't know.

O

Robin had gotten Star fire and Beast boy to go order pizza and clean up while he had a talk with Raven, He didn't know what to think, but their only option seemed to call Star labs to come look at him, but could even the Star lab team repair Victor's mind?

"Raven…is there anything we can do for him? Anyway we can help him at all?"

Raven blinked before looking at Cyborg's face.

She hesitated for a moment, but knew if there was anyway to help her teammate she would have to try.

"As I was being trained and raised I was taught some of the mental disciplines, but I never used them because entering someone's mind is a huge invasion of privacy, and the one time I did it I was…uncomfortable."

Raven looked down and shuddered and it made Robin wonder what she could have seen to make Raven who was usually unflappable have a reaction like that.

"I can try and see if I can wake him up, but I don't know how long it will take, or even if I can reach his mind."

Robin nodded as he remembered what they talked about before the skirmish with Atlas and Cinder block. "Do what you can Raven. If we can help him, then we should. I'll look through the archive and pull some strings to see if we can find someone who specializes in this."

Raven nodded as Robin walked through the medical room's door.

Raven counted slowly to ten, than locked the door before she went back to the diagnostic table that Victor was strapped to.

Dropping to the floor Indian style, Raven began relaxing her mind and body as she thought about what she needed to do, and reached into her self for the power to move her consciousness into the mind of Victor Stone.

It took a few seconds, and there was no fanfare, no flash of lights or sounds other then Raven's quiet gasp, and then nothing.

O

Star fire kept walking from the kitchen to the living room, unable to keep herself still as her mind bubbled with questions. Beast boy was no better as he kept stuttering on the phone as he tried to order pizza for everyone without buying ingredients that no one would like.

After a few more stuttering minutes Beast boy hung up the phone, and joined Star fire in her frantic pacing.  
"Man it's such a bother ordering for five people ya know? I mean you like everything especially anchovies, YUCK by the way. Raven will only eat cheese and veggies, Robin likes black olives of all things and metal head likes…Aw man." He said quietly as he stopped pacing. Star fire hearing him turned and saw tears in the changling's eyes as he stood with his head down. "He's gotta be alright Star…he just has to!"

Star fire walked over and forced a smile on her face as she put a hand on Beast boy's shoulder. "I am sure everything will be alright…we must not worry too much. I am sure we will all be playing the Xbox of 360 again!"

Beast boy swiped at his eyes quickly then nodded. "Yeah you're right! What am I worried about? This is Cyborg we're talking about right?"

Star fire smiled and nodded to him, but they both harbored worried feelings as they waited in silence for the pizza to arrive.

O

Robin glared at the console monitor as he was once again denied access to Cyborg's personal logs.

The password would be bloody impossible to break under ordinary means, but since this was Cyborg's password, there is no telling what he had chosen…hell it could have been a thousand characters long and no one would know it but him.

Robin was sure the key to this was somewhere in there…his personal logs…but that key alluded him for the time being.

He had to rely on Raven and hope she could do this.

O

Raven seemed to be tumbling through blackness.

She needed to find purchase so she could reorient herself, but it seemed there was nothing and nowhere she could accomplish that.

It seemed like an eternity of her being disoriented before she spotted a red area off to her left.

Calming herself and focusing her energy, Raven was able to stop her spiraling and orient herself until she was facing where she wanted to go.

It took a few minutes or another eternity if you will until she could see the redness was just a ball of light.

It wasn't very big, but it was big enough to be considered substantial, and it seemed to pulse every so often, similar to a heartbeat.

Raven got within five feet and tried to discern what it was but honestly couldn't. She was a bit out of her element, but doing the best she could.

What really bothered her about this situation was that Victor's mind really did seem empty now. When she had done this technique once before, the monk's mind had been full of memories and focal points in his life that was still fresh to him.

Cyborg's mind had nothing.

Or so she thought.

"So you look for him?"

The voice broke her musings and startled her as she looked around. "Who is that? Cyborg?"

The voice chuckled evilly and she realized it was coming from in front of her. "Not quite…but close."

The ball blinked and pulsed as it spoke to her and she frowned as she considered it. There was something awfully familiar about it that she sensed. "Who are you then?"

The voice laughed again. "Oh child do you forget us so easily? Ah but I see you have locked us away…that will not do, not at all."

Suddenly a red representation of Cyborg stood in front of her and from the evil glint in its eye she had a feeling of dread. "No it can't be…"

The image in front of her laughed cruelly before shaking its head. "So intelligent and yet so simple minded. Is it that you do not recognize me? Maybe this will help more."

And the shape changed again until standing in front of Raven was an exact image of her, with four red eyes.

"Hate! How could you be here? Get out of Cyborg!"  
The image of her darker side shook its head and tsked at her in disappointment. "Come child do not be foolish. I am not your hate, I merely made myself look like her. But we share a common bond as do all people. Even though you have locked my sister away, you cannot get rid of her. She and the others will always be waiting for you."

Raven had moved back a pace as she frowned at the being, trying to find sanity in this situation. "So you're saying you are Cyborg's hate, his anger?"

The image of hate transformed again and before her stood Cyborg. "Ah now you understand. In fact you can call me rage…I think it fits me don't you? Anyway all intelligent beings share the same thing, emotions. While there are a few that have stored them under lock and key, and an even rarer few have purged them completely, we are always present in some form or another, always waiting."

Raven didn't want to fight with this emotion, she knew that if she did then it could balk her indefinitely much as hate did, and she didn't have the energy to wage such a battle in Cyborg's mind. "What do you want? Where is my fr…Cyborg?"

Raven caught herself on the word friend, but tried not to think about it.

"Oh so you want Victor Stone? Sorry, he's not here right now, leave a message and I'll make sure he never gets back to you."

Raven felt anger well up inside of her as she held up a glowing hand. "I want him back…now!"

Rage grinned at her then shrugged his shoulders. "Demands, demands…so many demands…but I cannot give you what you want, I didn't take it away."

Raven practically shouted at Rage as she leaned forward. "Then who did?"

Rage smiled at her sadly it seemed before he answered her and it made her blood run cold. "He did."

Raven blinked in shock before she shook her head. "No I don't believe that! Cyborg was always one of the strongest willed of the titans…there is no way he would want to be like this!"

Rage looked askance at Raven before he shrugged again. "Doubtful…very well. I will take you to him and if you are able to reach him, I'll help you bring him back."

Raven's eyes narrowed, a trait she picked up hanging around Robin. "Why? Why would you help me?"

Rage chuckled as he gestured to her and began walking, and only with a slight hesitation Raven followed. "Child you already know the answer to that. While I can use his body, eventually we will all die. One emotion cannot long last without the others. We feed each other, and it creates a balance. Without that balance…eventually…oblivion."

Raven nodded as she followed, but then they were in front of a door that was locked and barred with incredibly thick chains and pad locks. "We are here." Rage waggled a finger at her as he looked serious. "Now you have to get him to acknowledge you. If not, then you will have to leave, and all of your friends will have to deal with me until we die…and I can guarantee that won't be a pleasant experience."

Raven didn't doubt it for a second. "What will it take? What do I need to do?"

Rage looked at her blankly for a moment before he answered. "Do? Why…you have to get him to listen. In order for that to happen, you have to understand."

Raven frowned in thought before she looked at Rage again. "C..can I see his memories?" Raven stuttered and she realized she was afraid…and it took only a second for her to frown at the revelation, she could feel her emotions again!

Rage grinned. "Ah I see you have your friends back. Before you ask I will tell you. Here in this place you cannot hide or lock away what you are. Everything is as it is supposed to be. I have to admit…you looked pretty cute when you were angry at me earlier."

Raven blushed for a moment before she redirected her feelings. She would have to deal with this later and what effect it would have on the outside world. "Hello? Can I see his memories?"

Rage scratched his cheek ever so slightly. "Yeah, well…that is a bit of a problem. This isn't a DVD player, you don't get to see…you live."

Raven thought for a moment…what was his life like? Could it have been worse then what she had gone through?

After a moment she nodded and solidified her resolve. "Alright…I want to understand."

Rage nodded then grinned before he reached up and snapped his fingers. "And so you shall."

O

Raven screamed for what felt like the millionth time.

The pain was beyond belief as she lay in the hospital bed, unable to move and every nerve ending lit up like she had a fire burning inside every inch of her body.  
Nurses came in and gave her pain killers, and checked her vital signs, but nothing seemed to stop the pain!

Her father, Elijah Stone came in to look at her every so often, making notes on a clip board and staring at her worriedly, but she took no comfort from that.

Eventually as she kept fading in and out of consciousness she caught her father's words to another doctor and it broke her heart, as he didn't realize she was conscious.

"Yes keep him under light sedation, the nerves and muscles need to be active for us to bind the fiber cord to it, otherwise the body will start rejecting the foreign material almost immediately."

The doctor didn't say anything but Raven could almost see him nod. "Alright doctor. I came to tell you that we may be able to salvage his right leg…it won't be pretty, but he would be able to keep another part of his living anatomy."

Elija considered as he looked at his sons body. Badly burned, large sections of it destroyed and him barely hanging by a thread of life. Her father then said something she hoped she never would hear.

"No…the project calls for full body prosthesis. Even if his right leg could be salvaged, it would never be able to keep up with the robotic one. If this succeeds I can appeal the department's decision to shut project Cyborg down. No we can't risk it. Remove the leg at the hip and prep it to accept the fiber bundles."

Raven screamed in her head at the betrayal, and the tears coursed from her good eye down her face.

_Why? Why would her father make such a decision? Where was mom? She would stop this! _But her mother had been in the lab that exploded. Was she…

And Raven couldn't finish the thought as a nurse saw her eye was open and she called out. "Doctor!"

Elijah Stone entered the room again, and saw the betrayed look in his son's eye and frowned. "Don't worry son, you won't remember this."

And he pointed to a nurse who administered an injection, and she lost consciousness.

O

Raven collapsed and tried to curl into a ball at that one memory.

Elijah Stone didn't lie, he couldn't remove the memory, but he buried it so deep Victor didn't know it was there, and he didn't remember it, but Raven knew, and she knew there was no way she could ever forget.

Rage smiled down at her which made her wish she could vomit after what she just lived through.

"So…you ready for the next one?"

Raven looked at him incredulously. "Are you serious? There's more?"

Rage nodded as he squatted down next to her. "Been quite a bit for someone only sixteen years old…but I tell you what…I'll only show you the things that have brought us here…but it still won't be pretty."

Raven frowned but with a grimace she forced herself to her feet. "Alright, show me more."

Raven was not looking forward to what she would see next.

O

Star fire carried the plate of pizza and a soda into the room and looked at Robin as he rubbed his eyes.

It had been six hours since they brought Cyborg back from the blunted robbery and while sleep seemed like a good thing, he knew that if he stopped now it would seem like he was giving up on the man machine that was their comrade.

Robin hadn't come out of the mainframe room, but he knew from the monitoring system that Raven hadn't left Cyborg's side either. Whatever it was she was doing, he hoped she would be able to help him.

"Robin? Would you like to partake of the bread with sauce, cheese, and various meat objects? It is still warm."

Robin looked over at Star fire and smiled, though his eyes were killing him. "Thanks Kor…if it weren't for you I'd probably starve."

Star fire smiled and blushed prettily. "There is no need to thank me, it is my honor as your Shmedla."

Robin shook his head at the unfamiliar term, but he assumed it was close enough to girlfriend so he didn't care.

"Are you looking at Friend Cyborg's systems again?"

Robin shook his head before he took a healthy bite from a slice of pizza. "No Kor…I was hoping I could get into his personal files to see if there was anything we could do to help, or at least know what is going on."

Star fire nodded once but said nothing. While this was an invasion of Cyborg's privacy, she realized it was a necessary thing that Dick felt obligated to do, and if it helped Cyborg, then they would happily apologize for it later.

"Do you need me to bring you something else?" She asked with a hint of hope.

Robin thought for a second then shook his head. "No Kor…this is fine. Thanks."

Star fire nodded her head and turned to the door, a sad frown on her face now. Just as she was going to exit the room, his voice stopped her. "Star?"

She turned and looked at him and his smile surprised her. "I don't need anymore food, but I could use some company. Would you sit with me while I work?"

Koriandar from Tameran almost bounced with happiness which made Robin's smile grow wider…_She's so cute._ He thought to himself which gave him a warm feeling. "I would like that Dick…I would like that vey much."

Star fire pulled over a chair and sat very close to him and rested her hand on his leg while Robin continued to try and break a password he didn't have a hope to figure out.

O

Raven gasped in air as her mind tried to wrap around the sheer mass of emotional overload she had to now deal with.

She had felt as Victor did when he first woke up in the hospital after the operation. The emotional turmoil of realization almost made her lose her mind as in the mirror she was able to see half her face was gone, replaced by metal, and not just her face. She reached up and maneuvered the mirror so she could see the rest of her body and even though she didn't remember anything the rest became evident as she screamed and threw curses at Elijah Stone before she collapsed in a sobbing mess.

Victor's life wasn't a rose garden before the accident, but it was a pure nightmare after.

Every disappointment every hurt, anything that could take a piece of him away did, and in the end it took his hope.

She understood now…she knew it all and felt it all and her heart ached for the man that lived through this every day of his existence. _No wonder he would prefer death over living. He isn't angry at us…he doesn't hate anybody…he hates life._

Rage nodded down at her.

"I see you understand now. He has no monopoly on pain, but he has endured more then most people would feel in a lifetime. You must understand…even if we get him to come back, he may never be the same. Are you still willing to risk that?"

Raven wobbled to her feet and grit her teeth as she fought to hold back the tears. "Y..yes. He is a person, and he deserves to be with people who will take care of him, and care for him."

Rage looked at her and shook his head. "No one ever cared enough before, why should now be any different?"

Raven stood firm as she growled at Rage. "Because he isn't alone! Not anymore! I understand now…and I, if no one else will be a better friend to him. His heart has been fractured so many times, I don't think anyone can put it back together again…but I can help him protect what is left. Even if his younger years were complete shit, I will help to make his mature years worth while. He will know someone cares!"

Rage stared at her for a few seconds, studying her before he nodded. "Alright. But there is one more you must see, one more you must feel to fully understand."  
Raven took a deep breath, and despite her entire being screaming at her to run as fast as she could, she nodded firmly and then Rage snapped his fingers.

O

Bumble bee was the coolest she thought as she walked beside her.

They had gone out like this a few times, and she knew a month ago she was the one.

They laughed, they joked, they enjoyed each others company in ways that she never remembered feeling before.

Raven didn't have much in her life that would be considered worthwhile…but she knew that marrying bumble bee would be the best thing ever.

The evening was soft with a candle lit dinner at a restaurant bumble bee liked and a movie that neither had seen before, and as they were walking back to titans east, they happened on a spot in one of the newer neighborhoods, and she decided this was it.

With a smile she stopped, and got down on one knee, surprising her, and before she could react Raven took her hand and pressed the ring up Bumble bee's finger.

Her look of shock was priceless, making Raven wish she had brought a camera…but then she looked sad, before she slid the ring off, and placed it back in her hand.

Raven couldn't understand…they were in love weren't they?

She got angry, she couldn't help it, and she yelled at her, but it only made the situation worse.

She didn't want to be let down easy, she didn't want to hear excuses, she wanted the truth…all of it!

And Bumble bee gave it to her, and the last emotion that held her in place fell away from her like a discarded coat. Hope was now gone, and with that gone there was nothing good left.

She looked at the crushed remains of the engagement ring, then turned her hand over and dropped it to the ground. She didn't even recognize her voice as she strode into the distance. "No…you won't."

She set the T-jet to auto pilot once it was airborne, and wept.

The one person Raven thought would never hurt her, showed her how shallow and petty she really was, and it was more then Raven could take.

All she had left was her anger, and at least that never deserted her.

She thought of the changes that were occurring inside of her, the physical changes because of puberty, and the sudden need to have some one to love and protect…maybe it was a combination of both…hormonal changes and all…and then the knowledge knowing she would never be able to walk her daughter to the park, or teach her son to play baseball almost stopped her. But she had to try…and she hoped for happiness.

That was one of the big reasons she hated chick flicks, and sappy love movies…she knew deep in her heart she was alone, and always would be.

Forever alone…

O

When she opened her eyes, she looked at Rage who had not changed his position since she left for the last scene. Raven's face contorted in fury and for a few seconds it was almost as if hate knelt there. "THAT BITCH!!" she screamed as her hands clenched into fists. "I can't believe she would do that to him!"

Rage smirked and nodded slightly. "And now you know." His face went from indifferent to a smirk as he gestured back towards the door. "So…ready?"

Raven took a deep calming breath and let it out slowly before she nodded, getting her feet under her and standing straight. Reaching up she touched her cheek as she realized she had been crying at some point, the tears making a trail down her face as rage led her back to the locked door. She had not felt the need or the want to cry since she was a little girl, but now was not the time.

"This is it…if he hears you the door will begin to open…perhaps you will succeed hmmm?"

Raven nodded as she took a step forward. "Cyborg…" and she shook her head before she tried again in a firmer voice. "Victor…I know you can hear me…so please just listen."

Raven took a deep breath then let it out in a long sigh before she continued. "I know you are in pain, and I know you are lonely…but you don't have to be. I realize no one made an effort to understand you, but I am offering now. Your life has been a hard one, and I know you're tired, but would you leave a comrade, a friend behind Victor? Would you leave me to fend for myself after I have found out all about you? I can't do this alone you know."

Raven took a shuddering breath before she continued. "Now that I share your pain, you don't have to feel alone anymore…and if you let me, I will share mine with you, so neither of us have to be without someone to care for the other. We will be true friends…better then whatever you had before." Raven paused and bit her bottom lip as she thought hard about everything, before she looked at the door again. "I…know I'm not good with emotions…but I promise to listen…to understand, and especially to help in any way I can…but you have to come back Victor. Please?" Raven leaned forward and rested her forehead and the palms of her hands on the door as she whispered, "Please come back?"

Raven had never shown such emotion before, and she was a bit shaken by her own words, but she also knew she would not leave Victor to his own devices, never again.

A low thrumming could be heard coming from the door, and it began to vibrate making her step back from it quickly before the chains broke away, and the locks disintegrated before the door swung outward.

Rage stepped around Raven and entered the room, and Raven followed and blinked as she looked around.

It was like before she battled Trigon all over again, except it was Victor Stone's mind and personalities. Rage glared at her and crossed his arms, his demeanor matching his name now. "Why should we believe you? Like so many others you can and probably will just turn your back on us."

Raven looked at him and shook her head. "No I won't…I too have never had true friends or someone I can turn too, so I know what you all have lived through and I understand."

One with bluish colored armor stepped up and sniffled before shrinking down to the size of a five year old, looking very out of place in the metal frame that housed him. "But…I don't want to hurt anymore. How do I know you won't hurt us?"

Raven frowned at him in thought before she tried to smile and succeeded. "Life is about taking risks and sometimes they do hurt, but I promise I will never purposely hurt you…and if for some odd reason I do cause you pain, I will be the one to make things right again."

One looking pink in color had a big smile on his face, and she wondered if this was his happiness. "How can you make us happy? You are an emotional void yourself at the best of times."

Raven nodded slowly as she considered. "Happiness is not something I am good at, but I will do my best to make sure I do not make him sad…and while I don't use my emotions the way he or anyone else does…it doesn't mean I can't…or can't learn."

One that seemed to be a cross between rage and happiness stepped forward. "What of love?"

Raven gulped as she thought about that…the one thing she didn't have an answer to.

Her eyes darted to all of the emotions standing there before she settled on the emotion she had not wanted to face. "Do you speak of the love of a friend, a parent or something more?'

The emotion smiled at her. "Something more of course. We have only felt that once, and it was one sided, and hurt us more then the accident…will you ignore our feelings if they develop towards you as well?"

Raven blinked before she shook her head. "Wh..why would Victor want me like that? No one likes me in that capacity now…no one ever has." She said in a quieter voice. While Raven had never had that type of relationship, she wondered what it would be like, and if she could handle the emotional strain.

The emotion smirked at her. "Just because it has never happened doesn't mean it never will. Perhaps like him, no one ever understood…but the question still remains…what of love?"

Raven thought hard about it and wondered what someone feeling sappy emotions would say to that, and tried to think of anything that would sound appropriate. You complete me? I would do anything for you? Pass the bean dip?

After a few tense seconds Raven nodded with a slight smile as her romantic side, something that was very small inside of her but grew an inch it seemed stepped up to bat. "I don't know what love is, but if that does happen between us, I will hold it to my heart, and vow to never let it go. Victor's heart isn't the only one that has been lonely, and if we fall in love then so be it."

A purple emotion stepped up and leered at her before asking her, "And lust? You know every relationship involving romance will eventually lead to me. While we can't have regular sex, will you deny us **all** types of sex?"

Raven was still a virgin herself and blushed crimson as she considered the emotions words. "I...would be hard pressed to have a physical relationship with anyone…and I only know enough about Victor to know he cannot have children…" and she blushed even deeper as the next thought left her. "But even if we cannot have children together, I wouldn't deny him my attention or affection…if our relationship goes that far!" she said hurriedly. The purple emotion, (lust for lack of a better name) nodded as he stepped back and away and the rest of the emotions moved aside for one that made her nervous. This one was dark, almost to the point of being black, and it glowered down at her in a way that made her realize what it was. "I am despair." It said in a gravely voice that was somehow sorrowful sounding. "I should be the smallest, and yet I am the largest. What would you do to lessen me?"

Raven while wary showed more confidence against this emotion then against any of the others. "I have never just given up on anything, and I will not give up on him. That is why I am here." The dark emotion seemed to tower over her which made the usually stoic titan shrink back slightly. "Really? Is that why you cannot admit to feelings about him out loud?" Raven blinked with a start as her voice seemed to play back all around her. **"What do you want? Where is my fr…Cyborg?"**

The words echoed seemingly mocking her for her own lack of conviction from earlier.

But Raven despite the awkwardness of the damning evidence firmed herself as she stood up to Despair. "Cyborg is my teammate, but Victor Stone is my friend…and I vow that from this point on I will be the friend that I claim to be!"

The emotion frowned at her but Raven barreled on refusing to back down now. "I know if I needed an ear to listen to me, he would be there for me, so if there is a problem he can't solve by himself…I will be there for him. That is what friends are for." With more conviction, Raven repeated herself to drive her point home. "I WILL go to him if I need his advice, and even if I just need…comfort," which she had difficulty saying, because the word was foreign to her. Still, she couldn't give up.

"Look this is all new to me, and I know a lot of it is new to him as well…but if he is willing, I would like for us to try together. At the very least, he will have a friend for life…I promise that much and will not break it."

Despair nodded slightly at her before he spread his arms.

The emotions seemed to shimmer and came together in one form until there was only two left standing next to the glowing shape. One was Rage, the other was a brilliant white and looked pristine. It was small, smaller even then the love or romance that Victor wanted but never got, but she sensed a strength from it, and with a glad feeling she realized that she put this emotion here. Indeed after a few seconds it donned a cloak very similar to hers and took on a regal look. The sound of its voice was pleasant, almost beautiful to her and made her feel relaxed as it spoke. "Thank you. You have given him reason to believe in me again. We will restore the balance now…the rest is up to you." It said before it too phased into the mass.

Raven looked at Rage questioningly and he smirked. "Hope. With your words and convictions, you have brought it back into his heart. This hope is different however…it is born of not only him, but you. If he loses this, then it's done. I would suggest you keep your promises if you truly value us."

Raven gulped as she nodded. She understood that if she failed in this, then there wouldn't be a Victor Stone anymore.

Rage turned towards the mass of emotions but stopped and looked at Raven one last time. "Be warned…he may not come out of this as you might expect, you may still have a lot of work cut out for you."

Raven nodded as she realized the enormity of what she just agreed to, but after a few minutes smiled. "It will be nice to have someone who I'll be able to spend time with. While I like Star fire…she is a little too bouncy for my taste."

Rage laughed before he too merged with the mass, and the glow became brighter than her eyes could stand, until the energy forced her from Victor's mind, and she sat up where she had slumped. She was a little wobbly, but forced herself to stand so she could look into Victor's face.

His eye was open, and it focused on her, and even though she wasn't accustomed to it, she smiled haltingly down at him, and to her surprise, he smiled back…though for some reason it seemed off…

O

Robin and Star were the last to arrive at the medical bay, where Cyborg was running a diagnostic on himself with the medical equipment. Beast boy stood to one side, a look of confusion on his face, and Raven nodded to them as they walked in.

Robin grinned big as he looked at Cyborg. "Cy…it's great to see you up! Are you ok?"

Cyborg looked at Robin, than looked at Raven who nodded to him encouragingly.

Cyborg turned back to Robin before he answered in a dead pan voice. "Systems are still severely damaged, but the nanobots are performing their primary function. System power is online but only at fifty percent efficiency. There will have to be some critical repairs done to bring this unit up to full capacity again."

Robin blinked and looked at Raven who shook her head negatively before she looked at Victor. "Cyborg, I will explain some things to our companions, will you need my assistance right now or later?"

Cyborg looked at Raven then nodded. "This unit is capable of self repair at this time but more assistance will be required in approximately three hours and twenty eight minutes."

Raven smiled at him again as he looked back at the diagnostic and made some adjustments.

When they had gotten outside and the door was closed, Raven was assaulted with questions immediately. "What happened to friend Cyborg?" Why is he acting like that? What did you do to him?"

Raven stared at all three of them until they quieted down. "I can give you a full report later, but what I can say right now is that Cyborg sees me as some kind of authority figure…I think."

Raven rambled through a quick explanation of what happened in Cyborg's mind and what that might mean to the rest of the titans.

Robin rubbed his chin in thought before he looked at her again. "So he has to what…recover his emotions again? Find him self? I don't understand."

Raven shrugged helplessly. "I don't know…Rage said he may not be the same, that it may take time before he went back to what we remember. Either way, he is my friend, and I won't abandon him."

The three looked at her at this comment and all three made note of the emotion in her voice. It was light, hardly noticeable unless you know Raven personally, but it was there. Robin frowned as he stared at Raven and his eyes narrowed to bare slits. "So what does that mean concerning the team?"

Raven shrugged which reassured no one. "I don't know…as far as I can tell if you tell him to fight, he will. I think he…his emotions are locked away, or haven't woke up again yet. It's like the computer is in charge, and not Victor."

All four titans looked at each other, but no one said anything else…they would have to wait and see.

O

Next episode: Happiness?


	5. Chapter 5

**Half a Man**

**Chapter 5**

**Previously:**

Cyborg because of past and present emotional problems has lost himself. The man turned partial machine was desperate for something to make him feel human, but when he didn't receive it he lost hope and his darkest emotion took over. Now because of the intervention of his teammate Raven, (Who is/was emotionally void herself) he is back, but he is more machine now then before. Will the less then enigmatic Raven be able to bring Cyborg back from his self made Abyss?

Let's find out.

O

Surprisingly since the defeat of Cinder block and Atlas, the town had gone mysteriously quiet.

It was almost as if the super villain world had stopped and took notice of the destruction of one of the most self obsessed, yet physically strongest of their number.

The team ended up facing Plasmius one time since then, defeating him, and then nothing.

In that time however, no one was idle.

Beastboy was between the training ground, his room, and the living room. His usual short attention span making him unable to sit down for any real length of time.

Robin and Starfire…of course training or spending time with each other.

Ah young love.

Raven to everyone's chagrin was spending innumerable hours with Cyborg. She did everything with him from talking, training, even eating with him because as Cyborg put it, "This unit must still consume food items for continued functionality."

Raven had even taken an interest in his cybernetics and would sit with him and try to understand some of what his systems did and why.

No one could understand why…except Robin who knew the gist of it but not the meat of what Raven was doing. The general consensus was to continue treating him as one of the team, though the relationship was a bit strained with most of them…but still they all tried their best except for Raven.

She even went so far as to sit with him during his downtime.

On this particular day…Beastboy had walked past the exercise room to see Raven doing stretching exercises with Cyborg.

Why he needed to stretch was beyond the changeling…but he wasn't going to argue the point…Especially not when he could eavesdrop.

The conversation they were having was what made him stay and listen intently.

"So tell me Victor, what made you become a titan?" Raven asked as she was stretching her legs.

Victor's face showed no expression as he contemplated her question before he answered in a flat monotone. "It was the next logical step. There was no operational use for this unit's robotics other then heavy construction or other menial labor jobs. This unit needed to be useful, to help others. Using it's abilities to help and save others was the most logical conclusion."

Raven stopped what she was doing and frowned slightly. "Cy…Victor, could you do me a favor?"

At Cyborg's positive nod Raven smiled lightly at him. "Could you not refer to yourself as "this unit"? It unsettles me when you do."

Cyborg's eye blinked in response as he looked at her. "Why?"

Raven reached out and lightly touched his left shoulder. "Because you're a person too Victor not just a machine. You are the amalgamation of two very important things. Technology created by man, and my friend. Never forget that."

Cyborg's eyes looked at her hand on his shoulder and blinked again and for a brief second his face showed surprise before settling back into a look of indifference. "Your logic does not compute, but because you requested it this unit…I will comply."

Raven smiled big at Cyborg before they resumed stretching again.

Beastboy's mouth hung open in shock. To say he was startled would be the understatement of the year.

Quietly he snuck away to find someone almost as logical, but more human to talk to about this.

After a few minutes of searching the compound, Beastboy ran across Robin and Starfire on the training ground. It looked as if Robin was helping Starfire with her aim as she was throwing her star bolts at a target. "Good star! I think you're getting the hang of it. Next we can work on your sustained burst…I think it's just a matter of practice and getting used to doing it."

Beastboy ran over and stopped just behind the two. "Hey guys…um…I was wondering if you had a few minutes to talk to me? I got questions about Cy."

Robin stopped and looked at Beastboy before nodding. "Sure, we were almost done anyway. What's on your mind?"

"Beastboy scuffed his foot a little as he thought about it before he blurted out. "Why isn't he opening up to us? It's like he doesn't want to be our friend anymore!"

Robin frowned briefly then shook his head. "It's not that Gar…Cyborg had an emotional breakdown as best I can describe it. I don't fully understand what Raven did in his mind, but she was able to help him come back at least after he wanted to give up."

Beastboy frowned as he shook his head. "But that doesn't make sense! Why would he want to give up? At least he isn't green!"

Robin narrowed his eyes at the changeling causing him to blanch as he realized he may have put his foot in his mouth…again. "Look Gar…you don't know what his life was like the same way I don't, but he obviously was in a lot of pain for a long time. I guess he had pretty much given up hope on normality until he fell in love…and got crushed for his troubles." At Gar's look of confusion Robin waved him off before he could say anything. "Look If Kori and I were to break up," Which was suddenly interrupted as she wrapped her arms around him from behind and squeezed tight. "That will never happen my shmedla! I would rather eat a gorboblatnod then lose you!"

Robin grinned and rubbed one of her arms as she held on despite not knowing what a gorboblatnod was. "I know Star me too…I think. Anyway if it did happen, it would hurt me, and I am sure it would hurt her, but we would survive. I'm not sure if I'm right, but to coin a phrase, "I think bumblebee was the straw that finally broke the Cyborg's back". The things Raven saw in his head, she left out of her official report, which I understand. It's personal and should stay that way unless he tells us himself, but until that time comes all we can do is try to help him and continue being supportive."

Robin looked intensely at Beastboy who was still frowning in thought. "I know…it's just not easy not being able to laugh and joke with him like I used to. Talking to him now is kinda…creepy you know? And…I miss the old Cyborg."

Robin nodded emphatically but all he could do was to shrug helplessly. "Until the old Cyborg comes back, we have to keep encouraging this one." _And be ready in case he doesn't. _He thought to himself, though he hoped that wouldn't be the case.

Beastboy nodded as he looked up at the two teammates again. "I guess…well Raven is making progress I guess, even though she's bothering me too now." Robin frowned as he sat on a log and Starfire immediately sat beside him, her hand on his leg. "Bothering you how? What's she doing?" Beast boy frowned as he thought to her recent behavior than shrugged. "She's not herself. She seems more…cheerful. She smiles more and she even laughed the other day…and we know Raven DOESN'T show her emotions. It's like her and bucket head have switched places."

Starfire leaned forward with a smile on her face. "It is good that she can do this. I know that she was not allowed to show her emotions when she was younger, and when her powers were awakened she had to repress them for they would respond to how she was feeling. Friend Raven has not had an easy life either, but it seems that she and friend Cyborg may be good for helping each other." Robin nodded as he placed his hand on Starfire's. "Well spoken Star. Look Beastboy, while it may seem strange, it isn't hurting anything and as long as it is helping I don't see a problem. Take some time to get used to them. Don't look at it as old Cyborg new Cyborg or old Raven new Raven…think of it as our teammates, and right now they need us to understand or at least try." Garfield nodded for a moment before he shrugged. "Yeah I guess your right. Well at least Raven got Cy to stop referring to himself as, "this unit"."

Robin and Starfire blinked at this and grinned widely. "That's great! Without doing that he should begin to see himself as more then just the machine!"

Beastboy nodded then grinned himself. "So…that's a good thing right?"

The green titan flinched out of reflex then remembered Raven wasn't around to smack him.

The three shared a laugh before they continued with other topics of interest.

O

Days passed as days usually do with no action still.

This wasn't necessarily a bad thing; it was giving the titans more time to sharpen their skills and to work more on their teamwork.

Soon all of the titans were interacting with Cyborg more and more, and the surprising thing, well in Beastboy's words the most awesome thing was when they were in a simulation.

Each Titan was faced with their most challenging villain in their history and the enemy facing Cyborg happened to be Atlas.

No one mentioned anything about it as the simulation began, and the computer in Cyborg's brain did something that they were not aware he could do. It was calculating trajectories, velocities, and creating attack vectors.

The machine was actually performing better then Cyborg ever did.

In five seconds, the simulation was over and the Atlas clone was in pieces at Cyborg's feet. Robin was the only one who showed no outward emotion but spoke into the microphone. "Cyborg…I'm going to raise the challenge level. That seemed too much of a cake walk for you."

The man machine only nodded as he stood ready.

Robin pressed the engage button, and Atlas, Cinder block, and the hive teen Mammoth faced off against him.

This time it took ten seconds, but the end results were the same as Victor stood over their broken forms with only a slight trickle of sweat running down his brow.

Robin frowned as he looked at Victor's previous performances in the simulation room and considered. "Cy…how much do you think you can handle…just so we can make sure of your repairs and battle readiness?"

The man machine frowned which surprised everyone. Facial expressions hadn't occurred like normal since his reemergence a few weeks ago. "I have previously been able to achieve level six point five with moderate difficulty. I believe I can handle level eight now."

Robin blinked as he considered that before adjusting the dial to level eight. The caped wonder had only achieved level seven before the computer threw so much at him he had to end the session…but Robin was a speed/agility fighter while Cyborg was a power house…level eight would throw opponents at him that would take him down in minutes. Robin only thought about it for a second before he reached for the control, but before he could engage the program Raven's hand grabbed his. "Wait…are you sure this is a good idea?"

Raven's brow was creased in obvious worry and everyone was surprised by this, but Raven paid them no mind.

Robin nodded once as he looked at her seriously. "We do need to gauge what he can and can't do now, and this is the best way."

With a frown, Raven nodded as she let go of Robin and looked back at the viewing screen. "Please be careful Victor."

The words were mumbled quietly, but everyone heard her, as Beastboy crossed his fingers, Starfire bounced on her toes, and Robin pressed the button.

Down in the room, Cyborg faced off against the hive five, Atlas, and a bevy of other villains from their past and present. His computer brain kicked into over drive as he dodged the first salvo from Jinx and Doctor Light, as it began to run through scenarios and best possible outcomes.

Before long, he stopped dodging and unleashed a blast from both sonic cannons that took out two separate opponents, before he charged in and laid another out with a one two three punch combination. As the last punch landed he tucked and rolled to his left and nailed Jinx in the face with a blast from his sonic cannon in his left arm, while he blocked a punch from mammoth with his right before he kicked him away.

The titan's mouths were wide open and eyes were the size of plates as the way Victor now moved was nothing like he ever had before.

Each move was precise, clean, and he seemed damn near unstoppable.

No one expected to see such a spectacle before and no one knew what to say now until Cinderblock nailed Cyborg from the left, knocking him towards Atlas who knocked him back towards cinderblock again.

Raven gasped in worry as her stomach tightened in fear and she reached for the shutdown button, but this time Robin's hand stopped hers. "No…let him dig his way out of this…I've got a hunch…" was all he said but his look at Raven spoke volumes to her.

Raven bit her bottom lip, but then nodded and pulled her hand back as they continued to watch.

Victor rocked with the punch from Atlas but the punch was only a glancing blow as he was already moving back towards cinderblock on his own.

Victor reared back his fist, and his new atomic pile weapon struck cinderblock full in the stomach, causing him to almost double around Cyborg's fist and a large majority of the stone to be blown away.

As Cinderblock collapsed, Victor turned and grinned which made Raven, Starfire and Gar all gasp in surprise but Raven's was more in happiness when Cyborg finished off Atlas with a shout of, "BOOYAH!"

After the simulation ended, Victor stood straight and looked up at one of the cameras trained on him. "Was that appropriate? For some reason it just felt…right." The monotone was back in his voice, but even without Raven's input, they all felt the excitement from the metal clad teen.

None was happier then Raven, but all were happy as Robin keyed the mic. "That was perfect Cy…great job!"

Raven stared at the monitor intently and as she began to sense all of his emotions, there was an underlying glimmer of pleasure still present. While it was small compared to others, it was the first real emotion he had shown in weeks.

It gave them all a feeling of joy as they all realized Cyborg was on the road to recovery.

O

The titans were actually lounging around for once in the tower. A few more days had passed, and Victor seemed to be opening up more, actually expressing some emotions without being prompted or coached.

Raven still hovered around him, his constant companion, but it seemed more for her benefit now then his.

**Flashback**

Raven sat in her room on her bed and brooded. She had seen Victor off to bed, and read to him from one of her favorite books…The Telltale Heart and other stories, by Edgar Allen Poe…but as soon as his eye was closed and his diagnostic bed showed his brain in REM sleep, she returned to her room. It wasn't that he needed her to read to him, but for some reason she couldn't fathom the thought of leaving him for an extended period now was…difficult.

She didn't even like to think about it.

It could be because she had become assaulted with emotions so recently that she was having a hard time remaining balanced, but she couldn't say for sure. Things she never understood, and to be honest never felt before was what was hounding her.

It was very minor at first, seemingly nothing. But now it had increased and she didn't know what to do. She couldn't talk to anyone about it…who the hell would understand?

She thought about telling Victor, but she became embarrassed and pushed it aside…at least until she could understand it better herself.

Tonight though, it was stronger then before and she really needed to understand it or it would drive her insane.

Raven closed her eyes and relaxed her emotions and let herself go until she found herself in a familiar environment.

She walked for a few minutes in silence until she saw what she was looking for.  
Gathered in a small clearing were the things she once called the bane of her existence. They all watched her approach, but her least favorite was the one that stepped forward to greet her. "Hello again sister. It seems we have been brought back by you this time…is it for good or will you be locking us away once more?"

Hate was always the one emotion Raven did her best to suppress, and while it had gotten weaker, hate would always be around it seemed.

Raven frowned at Hate but refused to give in to the anger she felt momentarily. "You guys are here to stay. Seeing Victor the way he was after being so supportive and full of energy before and seeing him without emotions now made me realize while you all made me unbalanced, I cannot be whole without you. So I am trying to find a happy medium."

Hate smirked as she blinked all four eyes at Raven. "Indeed. Well while I am enjoying old home week, you didn't come here for a social call."

Raven nodded slowly before she frowned deeply. "I..I feel something new. Something I've never felt before and I don't understand it."

Hate snickered much to Raven's displeasure, but walked a slow step around her as she watched her calculatingly. "So…something different?" When hate was behind Raven she leaned close and whispered in her ear. "Tell me…when you are away from him do you miss him? Long to see him? Worry if he is alright? Do you now find it hard to be out of his presence for any length of time, and seeing him makes you feel giddy inside?"

Raven still frowning nodded slowly as she began to get a sinking feeling in her stomach. "Yes…it confounds me…but a part of me enjoys it as well. I've never felt like this before is it…?"

Hate shook her head before coming around to the front of Raven. "Pitiful. Come now sister…you know what this emotion is…you've feared it most of your life."

Hate gestured, holding her cloak up on her left side before she suddenly dropped it and in front of Raven was a new emotion. She looked at all of her emotions in front of her and realized this was a new one alright, a barely developing emotion. The rest reflected her except for hate, but this one was the size of a toddler, and actually looked like a much younger version of Raven…but like the other emotions, this one had an aura of her own. It was serene…more peaceful then anything she ever remembered before.

Unsure of what to say, Raven stared at the new emotion until Hate broke her train of thought. "As you can see…she is in a delicate state of development…a push in either direction will start a chain reaction that will be almost impossible to reverse. Are you sure you want to continue nurturing her, only for her to become a part of me incase this "Victor" breaks your heart?"

Raven frowned as she took in the little girl that was her newest emotion and reminisced on all the things she had wanted when she was a child but didn't receive…the biggest was affection.

Her mother was too busy with the religion and battling her own inner demons, so Raven's emotions never developed properly until later, and then she was forced to lock them away. At this time though, she saw so much of herself in this one emotion, she knew no matter what happened in the future, this emotion now had a new home.

With a positive nod Raven knelt down and opened her arms to the newest part of her, who rushed forward and hugged her as all of her emotions cheered or smiled back, including surprisingly, Hate. "So be it." She said quietly. "We are all one again and we welcome our newest sister…" And Hate looked at the golden emotion who grinned shyly at her but spoke in a clear voice. "Love."

And Hate nodded with conviction. "Love to our number."

Hate looked at Raven though and began to frown again. "Know this sister, we will not be locked away again. You need us as much as we need you, and you must learn to deal with us as we are. What you show Victor, you must also learn as well, but we will always be here when you need us."

Raven smiled as the newly named Love ran over and stood with the other emotions before Raven returned to the land of the living.

She sat on her bed with a goofy smile on her face for a few minutes before she hugged herself and just enjoyed the feeling.

Her emotions were still a bit unbalanced, but now she wouldn't give them up for anything.

O

It was days later that the next call for help came in.

The battle itself was on the odd side as they took on what seemed like a normal street gang, but discovered these thugs were somehow augmented.

As soon as they began to fight, one of them laid out Starfire with a punch that shouldn't have been possible for a normal human and then…as they say…it was on!

With that the rest of the titan's went at it more with fervor, holding little back. Despite the obvious powers they were able to take out the bad guys with only one incident.

Cyborg had tied up the bad guys he had taken out and was on the verge of bringing them over to the main group, when one got a little mouthy.

"Hey fuck you man…at least I'm all natural."

Victor glanced at the man with a frown before picking him up and carrying him to the rest and dropping him unceremoniously to the ground. "OW DAMN IT!" he cried out, and he should have left it at that, but sadly the guy didn't know when to shut up.

"Hey bullet head look at you all shiny and shit…without all that junk on you you'd be nothing!"

Cyborg's human eye hardened but he still remained silent as they stood and waited for the authorities to arrive to take charge of the prisoners.

Cyborg turned to walk away from the teen but froze in place at his next words. "That's right, keep walking robot boy…I bet you got to pay women to be with you…or you probably ain't got one!"

As Cyborg stopped, his hand balling into a fist, Beastboy frowned as he morphed into a silver back gorilla. "Oh shit…not again."

The rest of the titans saw Cyborg's shoulders trembling and they all tensed as he turned around teeth clenched and robotic eye blazing red. "I AM NOT A FUCKING ROBOT!" he screamed as he took a step towards the loud mouth. Comically…the guys friends were struggling to get away from HIM lest they be caught in the fallout of the angry titan's wrath.

Cyborg's finger pointed at the teen like a knife, but the surprising thing were the tears running down the human half of his face.

Cyborg seemed to be fighting himself as he took another step forward, and even though she was startled, Raven was immediately concerned for Cyborg's emotional health as she landed next to him, and shocking the other teens, she wrapped her arms around him as best she could and held on to him.

The loudmouth punk opened his mouth to lash out at Victor again, but Beastboy's hand "Accidentally" swung and hit him in the forehead, knocking him out. "Oops! My bad!"

He mumbled then glared at the rest in case they tried to say something as well. No one made a peep.

As the police and Swat units arrived, Raven was whispering soothing words to Cyborg as he still glared at the unconscious youth.  
"It's ok Victor…its ok. You're not a robot…even if no one else sees that…I do, and I always will."

Victor's face turned and looked at her, and in a strange moment of indecision Raven reached up slowly and caressed the human side of his face.

The touch was soft, but it made him blink then voluntarily shiver before a look of fright came to him, and almost immediately, Victor's face locked down and he seemed to become the machine again. "This unit is fully functional." He said in a monotone, but didn't move an inch.

Raven seeing this blinked in surprise before she nodded and let him go.

The rest of the titans wondered what had happened, but no one said a word as Victor turned and walked back to the T car and climbed into the driver's side.

Somehow Raven felt she had done something wrong…but as yet she couldn't figure it out.

Robin walked over and frowned at the T car. "Raven…what happened?"

Raven shook her head. "I don't know…but I could sense only anger, and sorrow."

Robin frowned as he looked at her. "You're not telling me something…what happened at the end before he walked back to the T car?"

Raven bit her bottom lip before she shook her head. "When I touched his face…he seemed frightened. But then all of his emotions seemed to vanish. I..I think somehow I made it worse."

Robin took a deep breath and sighed. "Don't worry Raven, we'll keep working with him." But Robin's voice seemed to lack conviction…as if it seemed like he was losing hope in Victor ever returning to them.

O

Instinctively, Raven could feel that Victor had taken a huge leap backwards emotionally. During dinner and the team's quiet time, he only spoke when spoken to, and displayed no emotion whatsoever.

It had to be something she did…but she wasn't sure what.

As Raven sat in Victor's room pondering while he lay on the diagnostic bed, she did something that she had not done in a long time, but she knew she again didn't have much choice. "Hate," she thought to herself. "I don't know what I did wrong."

Hate appeared in her mind's eye and frowned at her. "Don't you? Think sister…you saw his memories, you felt his pain. You cannot suddenly be that dense!" she said with vehemence.

Raven frowned ignoring the barb as she concentrated on what she saw in Victor's mind.

It took a few minutes, but she remembered the hand on his cheek, the look of pity in her eyes, and the heartache he had felt.

"Bumblebee!" Raven gasped and Hate nodded. "He is afraid of being rejected again." Hate cocked her head but didn't look angry…not more then normal anyway. "He must be afraid you will treat him exactly as she did."

Raven nodded as she looked at his face. While he was in REM sleep, she could almost imagine what he must be feeling despite the fact that he had buried it. Many thoughts began to race through her mind, most involving doubt and her own feelings. _Can I handle it? Will it be enough? Will he reject ME?_

Hate smirked at her before she began to fade as she felt Raven's indecision. "You gave him hope…will you take back your word so quickly? Leave him broken and alone to save yourself?" At Raven's slow head shake in the negative, Hate faded out with these last words. "I think you know what you have to do."

Raven nodded absently before she left her chair, and with a deep breath climbed up onto the diagnostic bed with Cyborg.

She got as comfortable as possible before she gently rested her hand on his face, blushing crimson at the same time at being this familiar with her fellow titan.

After a few deep breaths and clearing her mind, raven blinked and found herself in familiar surroundings with one huge difference.  
Victor Stone looked around before his eyes settled on her. "Raven? Where are we? What is this place?"

He was more animated, his voice normal. In fact…she was positive this was the Victor Stone she remembered.

Raven while happy at the obvious difference in Victor shook her head and placed a finger to her lips and shushed him quietly. "Come with me."

Cyborg nodded, and followed her as she walked until they happened on a glowing doorway.

With an odd look, she pulled him through the doorway, and everything changed.

Raven was wearing a green summer dress and sandals, and they stood in a field of wild flowers. Victor blinked in surprise as he looked around before his eyes settled on Raven again who laughed in pleasure. "Welcome Victor…to my little slice of Paradise!"

He looked around again and took a deep sniff and found the air was pleasant and filled with the sent of the various flowers all around them before he looked at her closely. "So where are we…and why are you dressed like that…wait did you just laugh?"

Raven twirled and gestured with her arms out laughing again to prove to him he wasn't hearing things. "This is my happy place…a spot in my mind that I created just for times when I really need to be free. Here everything is…but at the same time isn't what it seems."

Victor looked around again but everything was still the same.

While he expected something different in Raven's mind, this was downright pleasant.

After a few minutes, Raven interrupted his thoughts though as she tapped her foot on the ground, hands on her hips. "As for why I'm dressed like this…well I don't like coming here and not wearing something more comfortable then my costume. Come on Victor…get comfortable. You can't wear that stuffy suit all the time."

Cyborg frowned as he looked down at himself then blinked at her. "Um…I don't have a choice…it doesn't come off, you know that Raven."

Raven giggled like a schoolgirl then put both of her hands on his left shoulder and to Victor's horror her fingernails sank into the armor plate and before he could do more then cry out she pulled. "My world, my rules!" she said with an almost gleeful sounding shout.

Cyborg felt the pulling as his armor began to let go then cried out in shock as the arm came off at the shoulder and she dropped it to the ground. "See?"

Victor held his left shoulder grimacing in pain before she reached over and smacked his hand. "At least look at it before you freak yourself out."

Victor Stone had seen a lot of strange things but this was one of the things he never expected to see again. As he looked down the sight made him fall back on his ass with a cry of shock. "My arm! Wha…How…it…it's whole?"

Indeed Cyborg's arm was there as if he had never been in the accident. It was as if he never had been turned into a machine.

He gazed at the soft dark flesh and smiled giddily now in his own self when Raven finally noticed there wasn't any trace of the machine, but the real Victor Stone that was in her mind with her completely.

"In this place…you don't have to be afraid, and you don't have to be sad or angry. You can be happy, like you used to be." Raven walked over to him and he watched her until she knelt in front of him and touched the now exposed arm. "Like the way I want you to be."

He watched in astonishment and reveled at the feel of another human being touching him…and he could feel it. After so many years…he could feel again!

It took a few moments, but Cyborg slowly looked at her as he remembered her words.

Cyborg's eye watched her, gauging her reactions and responses and when sensing no deceit he frowned deeply at her. "Why? You never cared like this before."

Raven hung her head for a moment before she nodded. "Victor…I was…I've always been alone…in everything. I was caught up in my own problems and turmoil and I never noticed the people around me suffering as well. For that…I'm sorry." Raven raised her head and looked up in his eyes as Victor's eye softened. He found himself seeing things in her face and her eyes that he had never seen before as she continued speaking. "I never even hoped that there would be someone that could understand me…that could share my pain and would share theirs with me. I mean…I'm the daughter of a devil for goodness sake! How many people do you think could understand and accept that?"

Cyborg nodded as he thought about it before he frowned. "While I can't understand that, I understand about feeling alone, and unwanted. After the accident, even my father stopped talking to me as he went back to making new proposals to the government and improvements to his original design. In a way to my father…I became obsolete."

Raven nodded as she remembered what he had been through. "I know…I saw your memories…but Victor…please don't hide from me? I know that I'm still learning to use my emotions as well…but I need your support as much as you need mine."

Cyborg nodded as he looked at his arm again, before with a bit of trepidation he reached up and pulled until the metal came away and revealed flesh underneath of his other arm. Decisively, Victor reached up and snatched the cranial plate off and cast it at the ground before he ran his hands over his bald head. "This is amazing…I..I can feel everything. My scalp tingles from where my fingers touch it, and I can feel the hair on the back of my arms!" he said with a grin that would rival Beastboy's.

Raven nodded with a pleasant smile. "I didn't discover it myself until after we beat Trigon. And actually…I stumbled on it by accident while meditating. I had heard from the monks that in each persons mind there was an area where if they achieved a certain emotional state, it would open and they could have perfect clarity. Once I realized what it was, I went about shaping it so that it could always bring me peace. This place was where I could let my emotions free and experience them without fear of my powers going crazy. I think it's because my powers only function when my mind is active…I don't know for sure but I really don't care as long as I have this place when I need to unwind."

Cyborg nodded as he looked into her eyes briefly then looked down again as he said in a sincere voice, "I'm glad you can escape. You look much prettier when you're happy." He said quietly.

Raven blushed cutely before she took his hand again. "Victor…yo..you're welcome here too." She stuttered slightly as her heart began to hammer in her chest.

Cyborg looked at her and blinked before his brain was able to process what she said. "But…this is yours…your private place…I feel like I'm doing something wrong…like watching you undress or something." Victor blushed as he realized what he said then shook his hands negatively rather quickly as he rambled at her. "Not that I ever have or anything!" He said rather hastily.

Raven, still with a slight blush on her face placed a finger over his lips. "Our private place…if you like. I know…I would enjoy the company."

Victor was stunned for a few moments as he contemplated that, then for the first time he noticed the emotion in her eyes.

Fear, nervousness, anticipation, hope, and something he thought he would never see…it was small, but there was enough of it there to make his heart beat strong once again. "I..I would like that…but I don't really know you, and if you're leaning where I think you're leaning…"

When Cyborg's voice dropped off Raven was still looking at him and her eyes still held the same emotions before Victor nodded at her and in a quiet voice muttered, "I don't want to hurt again…I don't think I could stand to fall in love again just to have it taken away from me."

Raven nodded as she leaned closer and smiled bravely at him. "Victor…this is new for me…completely new. I don't want to be hurt either. If you promise to take care of my heart, I promise to take care of yours. I mean…let's go slow, see what happens…work our way up to the L word since we both have a lot of the same fears. When the time's right…then we can decide what we are and what we'll do. All I'm asking is for you to take a chance with me, and I will take a chance with you. No matter what happens, I promise I won't ever stop being your friend."

Victor Stone nodded slowly before he smiled at her. "I guess it's time to stop being scared huh?"

Raven grinned but nodded at him. "For both of us."

Cyborg gently reached out and touched Raven's cheek then gave her his familiar smile then nodded again. "Ok…that I can do."

Raven giggled, (still something odd he would have to get used to) as she reached for his leg. "Now let's get the rest of this off of you…"

Cyborg blinked then started to pull away before jumping to his feet and running from her as he realized if EVERYTHING was normal under the metal in this place... "Raven stop! I'm not wearing underpants!" he screamed as she chased him with a hearty laugh.

And just like that…everything had changed.

O

In a different part of the country a plan was being made in darkness. Things were progressing as they needed to, and in the end the Titans would fall, or they would not. It mattered little to the larger scheme of things, so no emotions were being wasted on it.

If the Titans fell, so much the better, if they didn't then they would meet their fate later when they least expected.

It was all a matter of perspective…and time.

"And I have all the time in the world."

The voice was heavy but carried a lightness to it that couldn't be forgotten. Something that sounded like he could happily slit a person's throat while dancing to a merry tune.

If any of the Titans could have heard it, they would have recognized it instantly, and shivered.

O

Next Episode: Time heals all…


	6. Chapter 6

**Half a Man**

**Chapter 6**

Raven smiled as she watched Victor grab beast boy in a headlock and give him mass noogies.

Beast boy struggled and tried to fight back as best he could, but wasn't getting far until he turned into a humming bird, and flying out of his friends reach, then became a walrus and landed on his back…surprising the other titan.

She was happy this day had come.

When they both woke up the next day after her taking him into her (now their) happy place…things were a little weird.

**Flashback**

They lay in the field staring at the clouds, Raven sitting closer then she would normally have dared in previous times.

Both titans felt a comfort level neither ever hoped to attain before and were just happy with the content feeling.

On the other side of the field stood Victor's robotic form.

Strangely it came together and stood like a strange image of himself missing the human components. Once they got the last piece of metal off of him, it came together and stood there like it was waiting for someone to command it.

It was disconcerting at first, but then it didn't move or speak, so it was easy for them to ignore it.

Victor had tried to will it away, but either he wasn't doing it right, or something else was going on.

Neither could explain it, but after a time it became like a fixture and neither noticed anymore.

While Raven stared up at the clouds, he would glance furtively at her out of the corner of his eye, admiring how pretty she really was when she was more animated.

He wasn't sure what to do…_I mean…I've never had a girlfriend…not a real one anyway…and Bumblebee…well no point dwelling on HER._ Victor grinned as his gaze went upwards again and he saw a cloud that reminded him of Raven whenever she released her soul to scout or take over something. It was scary, as well as beautiful to watch.

Raven was not immune to the atmosphere and she was feeling quite similar to him.

She sat there looking upward but also glanced nervously at him then looked back again quickly…all the while warring with herself on what she was supposed to do.

_Azerath…what have I gotten myself into? I don't know the first thing about having a relationship or dating or anything like that! I'm so nervous I think I'm going to pee on myself!_

Which was ridiculous. This was Raven's mind, and while it may feel like such a thing it would never happen unless she wanted it to…and since she nor Victor she thought was into that sort of thing, IT WASN'T GOING TO HAPPEN!

Both teens continued the game of hide and seek until they caught each other looking and both blushed deeply.

Raven's face surprisingly was a dark red, and Victor's had darkened considerably as they both quickly looked away.

It took a few minutes, but they both came to the same conclusion at the same time.

_This is ridiculous…we're never going to get anywhere like this…so I guess I'll have to take the plunge._

Victor sat up as Raven turned to him, and both blurted out. Raven: "What do you like to do?"

Victor: "So tell me about yourself."

Both teens blinked at each other then fell into a fit of loud laughter. Happy belly shaking sounds that made both of them collapse on the ground next to each other, gasping for breath and holding their sides and stomachs in happy misery.

It took a little while, but Victor finally got himself enough under control that he rolled onto his side and smiled at her. "So what's your name? Your dossier doesn't have one listed for you…only Raven."

The girl frowned slightly but then smiled at him again. "Um…well I don't have one. My mother never actually gave me a real name like yours or Robin's…but I have always wanted one. I've never been called anything but Raven…the harbinger of doom…you know why."

Victor looked shocked at first and knew there was a story there trying to get out…but he wanted to maintain the happy feeling as long as possible. "Well why don't you? I mean I can keep calling you Raven if you want…but I think of that as your professional name…not your personal one."  
Raven looked at him and nodded as she considered. "Well…I've always liked the name Rachel…it has a kind of magical ring to it."

Victor looked at her askance then whispered the name a few times. "Rachel…Rachel…Yeah…I like it!"

Raven smiled and blushed happily at his praise and finally having a name of her own. She crossed her hands in her lap and fidgeted a little as she looked down. "Of course…I don't have a family name…but then my family is not memorable. Not for anything good anyway."

Victor hearing the catch in her voice sat up again quickly and took her hand and held it in both of his. "Hey…hey don't be like that…if you want a family name you can be proud of…then make one. You don't have to live your life as half a person…that's my shtick remember?"

He smiled at her and she looked at his eyes and seeing the concern their made her heart beat faster and she suddenly felt very close to him. "Well…I guess your right. But what would be a good name to start? There are so many to choose from."

Victor hmmed a little as he put his mind to work on the question. "Well…what we could do is create it randomly."

Rachel frowned as she looked at him. "Randomly? You mean like put a bunch of names in a hat and pull one out?"

Victor grinned but shook his head. "Nope…even better." Victor rose to his knees and imagined a pair of dice in his hand. "Now roll this one," he said as he handed her a six sided die, still grinning. "That will determine how many letters will be in your name. Short and sweet."

Rachel nodded and rolled the die producing a four. Four letters? It'll be a really short name."

Victor nodded as he handed the six sided die again. "Could be worse…you could have rolled a one. Now roll to see how many vowels will be in your name…but they have to be less then four."

Raven nodded with a sigh of relief. "Good…I didn't want to be called Rachel Uoai."

Victor laughed as she rolled and a one popped up."

On and on this went until they had sorted out which letters she could use. The vowel was an O, the three consonants were H, T, R.

Raven looked at him confused until he grinned and pointed at the letters he had drawn in the dirt. "Ok…now we put the letters together into a word."

Raven frowned at the letters then looked at Cyborg as he sat up straight and stared off into the distance, taking on a somewhat regal look. "You will be Rachel Thor…goodess of…"

But Rachel shook her head as she placed a hand over his mouth. "NO."

Victor shrugged sheepishly as she pulled her hand away and he smiled at her slightly embarrassed. "Sorry…got caught up in the moment." Raven nodded at him and smiled in return…she knew he meant well.

It took a few more moments but Raven looked at him and smiled. "Roth. I'm Rachel Roth."

Victor nodded and grinned at her again and was about to pat her shoulder when she surprised him and grabbed him in a tight hug that he first stiffened in, but then returned just as happily. "Congratulations Rachel…welcome to the world."

She held him tight for a few moments, and he enjoyed just holding her as well until human nature kicked in and they both blushed and pulled away.

Cyborg being the man of honor that he was quickly tried to make amends if he made her uncomfortable. "Sorry Rachel…I thought you needed a hug so I hugged you."

Rachel looked at him and smiled in what seemed to be pride. "Thank you Victor…you are very chivalrous…but it wasn't necessary, I did hug you first after all."

Cyborg nodded at her but before he could say anything a loud pinging sound made him stop and look around. "What? What was that?"

Raven frowned before she shrugged her shoulders. "That would be my wake up alarm. If I stay here to long, it get's harder to go back. This place while pleasant is very addicting so I don't come here too often, and I don't stay very long." Raven looked thoughtful as she stood up and Victor stood with her. "Still…once a week wouldn't be so bad will it?"

Cyborg looked at her and frowned. "I don't know…you would understand this better then I do. Do you think it would be too much?"

Raven grinned as she poked him in the side making him jump. "I guess we'll find out won't we?"

Cyborg grinned back in return. "Sounds like a plan to me."

The two then turned and seemed to wander back the way they came and in what seemed like a flash of light to them they blinked and woke up in Cyborg's room.

Cyborg looked around and saw the small hand atop his chest, which led to an arm attached to a delicate shoulder. What made him blush however was the plain look she had on her face as she looked at him, and the blush firmly on her cheeks as well. What made him realize he wasn't dreaming was the tender look in her eyes as she watched him.

"Hey…"

Victor despite the heat on his face smiled and nodded down at her. "Hey yourself. So…does us going there involve this much closeness all the time?"

Raven thinking he meant something else quickly climbed off the bed and straightened her cape. "Well…um it does rely on the proximity of the two of us or the transfer may not complete…if it makes you uncomfortable I will look for another way to do it."

Cyborg frowned then immediately climbed up as well and shook his head quickly. "No…no that was all right. I didn't mind…I don't mind! I liked it! In fact it felt…"

And Raven turned and looked at him and at the same time, eyes making contact with each other realization came to them as they both whispered to each other. "Right."

This sentimental moment between the two culminated in Rachel coming forward and Victor meeting her halfway and despite the obvious height and mass difference, they hugged in front of his bed…until BeastBoy came bouncing in. "Hey Raven is my Doctor Zeus nightcap in here? I've been looking…" And his bubbly nature left immediately as he saw the two blush and turn to him, arms still around each other. "Um…whatcha doin?"

Raven was momentarily at a loss for words, but Victor growled as he pointed an accusatory finger at the changeling. "B.B…Didn't I tell you not to come in my room without KNOCKING?"

Garfield shrieked loudly then turned and ran from the room, Cyborg in hot pursuit.

Raven smirked to herself before she shook her head.

Whatever happened…it wouldn't be dull.

O

Life had returned to normal around the tower.

Robin had talked to Victor, but he couldn't shed any further light on his transformation, or why it occurred.

What he did know was that despite everything he had the memories and was fully aware of what all went on…but there were no adverse effects from it on the outside.

Raven hadn't seen any problems but she hadn't delved into his mind a second time, so there was no real report on whether there will or won't be any further incidents.

Starfire…wanted to celebrate the return of their friend with a Tamaranian folk song, but everyone's hand reaching for her mouth at once put a stop to that without any need for bloodshed.

A representative from STAR labs had come by…better late then never…and after a thorough check up of Victor's systems found nothing physically wrong with him, but in his computer they found anomalies that they could explain.

Robin questioned what they could be, but the technician had no clue himself, and there was nothing on record about this either at STAR or in Victor's mainframe data banks.

Not knowing what else to do, the technician took the readings and said they would be analyzed and an answer would be found and reported to them as soon as possible.

Dick frowned at this, but decided he would let it go. With nothing else to go on there really was no choice…and as long as Victor remained stable there was little to worry about.

Days turned into weeks and to be honest there were plenty of battles involving various villains both new and old…but what bother Robin the most was the frequency of new villains popping up.

From common street thugs to nutcases who wore tights in crazy colors and sported even crazier names.

_I mean who is goofy enough to call themselves the footman and dress in a costume shaped like a foot wearing a sandal?_

Robin grumbled as he typed in the closing notes on the file but then stopped as he thought about the recent battle.

His mind began to go in two directions at once until he pulled up a list of the newest super villains and others they had faced recently.

Looking at it from the front they all seemed different…as if they had nothing at all in common…but then he saw the pattern and his eyes narrowed before he frowned.

"Wait a minute…from the Earthenites down to the newest knucklehead they all have earth or strength based abilities. The Earthenites having been the strongest, but still they all had that in common.

With a shake of his head he picked up his communicator. Tonight was supposed to be a day off for the team unless there was an emergency, and Robin fingered his communicator as he considered before he sat it back on the console.

This wasn't a critic al development, and his team did need the downtime from their constant battling. Beast boy had gone to the arcade, and Raven and Cyborg had gone on an "Official" date. Their first actually. It was a surprise to the entire teen titans' team but everyone wished them happiness after their initial shock. Robin shook off the intruding thoughts as he realized that he also wanted to look at the training roms again. Something he spotted the other day made him realize something was a bit off with Cyborg. Nothing major, but it had been nagging at him for a while now.

Robin looked over his shoulder at Koriandar who was making something to feed Silky, and he decided he should pay a little attention to his Shmedla…he would have to ask her what that meant some day. Robin got up and went over to stare over Starfire's shoulder as she cut one of her native fruits into pieces…if Bruce Wayne had taught Dick Grayson anything, it was being a complete loner sucks…and he wasn't going to walk that much in his mentor's footsteps. As he put his arms around her he wondered if Raven and Cyborg were enjoying themselves.

O

The two in question were dressed in a manner that would confuse most people. Rachel wore a long black dress that was slit at both sides up to mid thigh, and sandals that strapped to her legs up to mid calf. No jewelry adorned her, but she did wear a black velvet choker around her neck.

Victor wore a brown polo shirt and slacks and had a grey hat flop that he kept pulled down slightly as if to hide his eyes.

The two surprisingly were holding hands as they walked and looked into store windows and commented on various things.

Victor pointed out a puppy in one pet store and they went in and Victor had a good laugh when Raven picked it up and it licked her face causing her to hold it out at arms length. "This is why I do not have a pet."

Feeling especially goofy Victor whispered to her. "What if I followed you home? Would you keep me?"

Rachel looked at him and saw amusement dancing in his eye then shook her head with a half grin before she smacked his arm with a loud clang. "Goofball…you've already followed me home…numerous times." And Raven interlaced her fingers with his and purred at him in a husky voice. "And keeping you isn't the problem…it's feeding you. You eat like a horse…a big one!"

Victor blinked at her then laughed before he shrugged. "Hey I'm a growing boy…gotta keep up my strength and all."

Raven smirked at him as they began to walk again. "Sure, sure…whatever you say."

Their mood was light and neither thought anything of the stares they got or the fact that people were whispering about the two…some openly and loud enough for them to hear. "Aren't they two of the titans?"

"His face is metal."

"Look at her skin, she's almost like a sheet of paper. Talk about needing a tan."

"Well…two freaks together…"

The last was said followed by a snicker and Victor looked around quickly, but Raven pulled his hand and smiled at him. "Let them have their words, it doesn't mean anything."

That changed quickly when a child pointed at Cyborg and shouted "Look mom, a robot!"

Victor's eyes swiveled and locked on the child,, Cybernetic eye lighting brighter then usual but Rachel intervened quickly. "No he isn't…he's a Cyborg."

The child looked at Raven with a frown. "What's that?"

Rachel looked at Victor again and saw him visibly relax before she squatted down in front of the boy. "Well a cyborg is someone who is part person, and part machine. My friend may look like he isn't human to you…but inside like you he has a heart and blood. So he is as real as you are."

The child looked at Cyborg with wide, earnest eyes which made him almost want to giggle in a silly manner. "That is so Awesome!"

The child then turned and ran to his mother screaming. "Mommy, mommy! When I grow up I want to be a cyborg too!"

Rachel grinned after the child and stood straight as Victor took her hand again with a small smile of his own. "Thanks Ray."

Rachel smiled at him and squeezed his hand despite the fact he couldn't feel it. "Anytime."

After a good dinner and a movie they could agree on, (Neither liked sappy love stories) they found themselves walking along the beach back to titans tower.

Victor and Rachel were still holding hands but something had definitely changed between the two as Victor looked up at his other constant companion. "You know I've spent a lot of time staring at the moon these past few months. It's almost like an old friend that you know will always be there."

Raven nodded as she also looked up and considered his words. "I know what you mean. There were plenty of times in my past that I looked into the sky and let my mind drift when I didn't feel like meditating. It has a calming effect I think…on people like us."

Cyborg looked at her with a slight frown. "People like us?"

Rachel nodded with a slight grin as she looked back at him. "Loners. Usually no one understands us, but occasionally, one of us finds happiness."

Raven looked wistful for a moment, but a slight tremor in Victor's hand made her turn and look at him.

Victor's heart was hammering a mile a minute and he almost wanted to shiver as the old fear crept up his spine again and settled there.

_Come on Vic…you've planned this for days now…don't go stupid not now!_

Raven looked at him and could sense the nervousness and fear wafting off of her fellow titan. "Victor? What's wrong? Did I say something to bother you?"

Before she could berate herself for ruining a beautiful evening, Victor squeezed her hand again and looked deeply into her eyes. "Ray these last few weeks has been awesome…I've really enjoyed myself and I've come to see you as someone I can trust and rely on."

Rachel smiled at him in relief before she shook her head. "Well of course…that's what friends are for!"

But her smile faded as he looked at her seriously. "Well…that's what I wanted to talk to you about…why we didn't take the T car back to the tower. I wanted to focus myself so this would take longer and give me that time."

Raven began to feel painful flutter in her heart as fear now gripped her. _Azerath no… _She thought. _Please don't say it Victor…please don't say it!_

The look in Victor's eye almost crushed her…she couldn't believe this was happening. "T..tell me what I did wrong?" She stammered as she began to feel sadness grip her as well and the feeling of when bumblebee crushed Cyborg's heart came rushing back to her at mach three and almost made her want to fall to her knees and vomit.

She had only felt fear like this once before when they faced Trigun.

Victor frowned as he shook his head. "Nothing, you've done everything right and that's the problem…that's why I have to do this, and I hope it doesn't make things worse."

Raven felt her legs get weak but she firmed her resolve. Hate appeared in her mind's eye and grumbled at her. "I warned you sister…but you never listen."

A tear escaped Raven's eye and rolled down her cheek and Victor blinked at it in surprise before he reached up and wiped it gently away. "Don't cry Ray…I'm sorry…I'm stupid. If I had known asking you to be my girlfriend would make you feel this way I wouldn't have thought of it."

Raven blinked in surprise and took a step back from him. "What? What did you say?"

Victor frowned as he watched her then shrugged. "I wanted you to be my girlfriend…"

Raven's eyes were wide in shock and her heart wouldn't slow down for anything. "Your girlfriend…" was all she said as she stood there on shaky legs. Hate smirked at her before fading back out again and Raven vowed to get her for that…but in the meantime she looked at the earnest expression on Cyborg's face then smiled wide as she charged and dove at him.

Victor in surprise caught her, and his servos locked automatically so he would not be thrown off his feet as she clung to him, and he was surprised to hear a sob come from the stoic woman in his arms.

He hadn't realized how hurt this would make her.

Victor held and rubbed her back, deciding he would be fine just being her friend…_That's better then nothing at least._ He thought as he tried not to frown.

"Hey…I'm sorry…I didn't realize this would hurt your feelings so much."

Raven slowly looked up into his eye, tears running down her face just before she poked him in the chest with a finger. "Don't you ever…"

And Victor's heart began to fall as he realized he may have completely destroyed everything between them because he wanted too much. _Just like Ickarus…I reached for the sun, and got burned._ He thought almost bitterly until Raven's finger poked him again producing a metallic thump before she continued her sentence. "ever apologize to me again for being the sweetest man on earth."  
Cyborg blinked in confusion as Rachel grinned at him around her tears. "Yes…of course I'll be your girlfriend."

And on impulse Raven leaned up and placed her lips against his and instead of freezing in surprise as the situation warranted, he returned it.

When they finally broke from the long but chaste kiss Raven grinned at him and he grinned back. "I..I thought you were upset because you know…I asked you to be my girlfriend."

Raven nodded as she laid her own confession on the table. "I..I was sure you were going to tell me you didn't want us to be together anymore."

Victor frowned as he looked into her eyes. "Together? We were already together?"

Raven nodded as she looked at him. "Since the day first day in our special place. You didn't know?"

Cyborg blinked in embarrassment then shook his head. "I thought we were going to grow into it…"

Raven nodded slightly then shrugged. "We did…Our relationship I think began that first day and it has grown from there…so I want this to be official, for our friends to know. This way there is no confusion for either of us."

Victor smiled then nodded. "Ok…so officially we're BF GF?"

At Raven's affirmative nod Cyborg shifted her weight around until he was holding her bridal style. "Victor," she said in a startled gasp, but sounded slightly pleased as he carried her with no problem. "What are you doing?"

Victor grinned before he pecked her on the lips making her blush slightly. "Why carrying my girlfriend home of course…unless you want to ride piggy back?"

Raven giggled (he still wasn't used to that) before she lay her head against his chest. "Nope…this is fine for now."

Victor nodded and without a second thought continued his trek back to the tower, a new but finally welcome burden in his arms.

O

That night proved to be even more interesting then the day as Victor lay on his diagnostic bed in just his armor.

It was a great night, and he had kissed Raven at her door, and it had a little more passion in it then their earlier kisses.

He wasn't sure who went first, but he definitely remembered their tongues touching tentatively, then in a more familiar manner, before they both pulled back from each other and tried to catch their breaths.

Victor seeing the flush on her cheeks and feeling his own said a hasty, "Goodnight!" and ran across the hall to his room.

Luckily, none of the other titans were awake…so they didn't see the two of them acting goofy.

Victor grinned as he looked at the ceiling. _Could it get better?_

Damn right it could.

A small knock at the door had him wondering what Beastboy was doing up at this hour. "Come in."

Imagine his surprise when not a small green boy, but a small pale girl stood there with a slight smile. "Hey."

Cyborg sat up quickly with a nod. "Hey yourself. What's up? Everything ok?"

Raven nodded as she closed, than locked the metal clad teen's door.

With a frown he watched her and wondered what was going on and became goggle eyed when she took off her dark blue bathrobe and stood in front of him in a black silk nightgown which hugged her curves in such a manner that Victor almost started drooling.

Victor being the gentleman though slapped his hand to his eyes as he cried out, "Raven what the hell?"

Raven grinned as she set up a candle or two, lit them then turned the lights down low. "Well…since we are BF GF now I figured there would be no harm in this. Besides, Robin and Starfire do this so why can't we?"

Cyborg's eyes got bigger behind his hand as he shouted, "WHAT?"

And Raven giggled as she remembered the conversation they had previously.

**Flashback**

"Are you sure I'm supposed to do this?" Raven looked at the night gown that Starfire helped her pick out. "Yes…Dick likes me to sleep in one, but I like the ones with kitties on it. Usually I sleep without the clothes…but he would always have to move a lot because he was uncomfortable."

Raven thought she understood why he would have to keep moving, but kept it to herself before an embarrassing conversation would arise.

"So…you and Dick have been sleeping together ever since Tokyo?"

Starfire nodded as she looked through the nightgowns and found another that she liked. "Oh yes! It is a Tamaranian custom so that the two Shmedla become closer. It is necessary and to be honest if it wasn't a custom, I would still want to sleep with him. He does this thing with his hands that is most wonderful!"

Raven blinked in surprise as she looked at her team mate. "Huh?"

Starfire's eyes took on a dreamy state as she clenched the nightgown against her cheek. "My yes…when his fingers start to move against my…"  
(Cue needle being dragged across a record) "TMI! Star your not supposed to share sexual secrets!"

Starfire looked confused as she looked at her friend. "But aren't friends supposed to share secrets? I thought this was an earth custom similar to Tamaran's."

Raven frowned and shook her head. "Well some do but not everyone does that because it's embarrassing…wait I thought you couldn't have sex until you performed the ritual of Kartoowhatsis?"

Starfire grinned as she shook her head. "Oh no my friend. We Tamaranians can have sex as soon as our Shmoobs begin to grow. The ritual of Cartooga is a fertilization process that ensures I will conceive for us the first time then afterwards it happens automatically…but Robin and I have not had sex yet."

Raven frowned as she was wary of asking but human nature set in. "Ok…then what was that about Robin's fingers?"

"Oh he gives me the most wonderful…how do you say? Foot massage?"

Raven's eyes went blank and her jaw hung open. "He gives you a foot massage? That's it?"

Starfire nodded with a big smile on her face, bouncing on her toes.

Raven shook her head at her friend before she also nodded. "Well…I guess it's ok to share that." She said as they made their way to the register. "What else do you guys do?"

**Present**

Cyborg's mouth hung open as she giggled at him. This was obviously a day for surprises.

"So wait, what exactly did you plan to do in here with me, your confused boyfriend…tonight?"

Raven looked at him a little shyly then smirked as she climbed up on the diagnostic bed. "Well I want us to be closer too. And since it seems to work for Star and Robin…"

Victor frowned deeply as he considered and Raven grinned at him. "Don't worry, I don't sleep naked, and this isn't about sex."

Victor gulped loudly then nodded. He didn't think he would mind if she did…but that was an issue for later. "Well…are you sure? I mean my armor plate is pretty cold and takes a long time to warm up…"

Raven smiled at him and laid her cheek on his shoulder and took his hand. "I don't mind…in fact I like it. Besides, you aren't cold to me."

Victor looked in her eyes and saw sincerity and nodded to her before he warily lay back on the diagnostic bed.

Raven lay down next to him, but moved into the crook of his arm and settled her head there while his arm encircled her. "So you always sleep like this?"

Raven smirked before she shook her head. "No…usually I wear pajama bottoms and a t shirt." Wanting to tease him a little a Raven whispered in his ear with a blush. "Or sometimes in just my panties and a tank top."

Victor's eye had been closing, but shot open at this confession and his gaze settled on the top of her head as she suppressed a giggle.

"Just wait until we are in our happy place…I got something for ya."

Now Raven's eyes opened wide and she gulped as she hoped he just referred to playing a trick back on her.

His evil snicker worried her more, but they settled down quietly, and fell into a deep sleep.

O

At the STAR CORE facility where super powered villains were incarcerated, a little man mopped the floor with vigor as the guards walked around, systematically ignoring him.

No one noticed that his mopping was taking him rather close to a particular cell which wasn't quite on his path.

He stood in front of the bars for a few seconds mopping that area quite a few times before he turned and wandered off again.

If anyone had been near they would have heard.  
"The man isn't pleased you got caught so quickly."

Monolith shrugged as he looked at the lackey. "It happens, they were better then we thought…it won't happen a second time."

"Last chance. See that you succeed this time."

Monolith sat back on his bunk and waited for the inevitable jailbreak, and the chance to completely crush the titans this time.

O

Next Episode: Passions leads to problems…


	7. Chapter 7

Hello my faithful, and I have to start this off with an apology.

I have been having a few RL problems that have left me a little out of the loop...because of this my stories have been a bit neglected. I had my wife bring me my laptop, so please do not fret, I will update all that are behind and do my best to keep up. Again I apologize.

**Half a Man**

**Chapter 7**

Raven shrieked loudly as she ran around a tree in hopes of dodging the projectiles.

If anyone from her past saw her now they would be shocked and bewildered by her behavior.

Ok…rather they would be stupefied.

Even her team mates now (sans Cyborg) would be at a loss for words from the girly shriek she had let out moments before.

In fact most would be shocked into unconsciousness by the sheer absurdity of the situation. Raven looked around the tree with trepidation as her hands gripped the bark like a shield. She was sure at any moment she would be attacked again, but like most people human nature led her to do the obvious.

She didn't see her relentless pursuer and it made her wonder where he could be as she came out from around the tree, when it suddenly seemed like a darkness loomed behind her and as she turned she saw one red glowing eye before a deep voice resonated in the air. "I told you I'd get you back…"

And two large water balloons came down and burst against her, drenching her completely!

Raven screamed like a banshee as the cold water shocked her senses and made her shiver to the bone. Not that Raven minded cold water, it's one thing to be prepared for it another to have it thrown on you by surprise.

Rachel stood looking very wet, hair hanging and dripping, and the dress she wore was stuck to her frame like a second skin as she mock glared at her boyfriend. "Butthead." She said in a deadpan voice before she smirked and giggled.

Victor cackled like a loon as he looked at his girlfriend before he waggled a finger at her. "I told you. I've been outdoing B. B. for a long time now…you should have known that I would get you too eventually for your little trick."

Rachel shrugged at him as she held her arms out to her sides. "I didn't think you would get me so quickly though!"

A few days prior, Rachel teased the half metal titan by whispering in his ear before bedtime a delightfully naughty thing that kept him awake for a while.

While she hadn't actually done it yet, the thought of her sleeping with him in her panties and a wife beater made his mind go into overdrive and Rachel despite his dire warning went to sleep rather comfortably as she heard his hard drive click and whirr. She was sure it would be doing that for a while and indeed…after an hour or two of staring at the ceiling and his girlfriends sleeping head off and on he finally pushed the thought aside and was able to fall asleep.

Until the next night of course when it all happened again.

Anticipation sucks.

Cyborg smirked then shrugged his shoulders. "Well no time like the present."

Raven seeing an opportunity present itself, smirked at him before she blushed. "Indeed?"

She asked as she stood straighter.

Cyborg didn't see anything different at first…but then he noticed as Raven stretched arms above her head, back arched and a content groan came from her…that she was high beaming, or in simple terms her nipples were hard, and pointing at him it seemed.

And to make matters worse they looked like they were long and thick to be seen so clearly through her dress and bra.

Cyborg's mind went into overdrive…again…as Raven turned side ways, giving him a good profile shot which almost succeeded in smoking his brain.

Cyborg's hard drive immediately went into action clicking and whirring and his eye glazed as he stared at her.

Now Victor Stone wasn't a pervert, but he was a hot blooded youth who had emotions and so on and so forth.

Under normal circumstances…in the real world, this wouldn't have happened months even years prior. Sadly…it happened now.

Victor doubled over in pain and Raven immediately looked at him as she could sense it.

This wasn't a phantom pain or wrong electrical impulses or anything similar.

Victor was in ACTUAL pain and she was immediately at his side. "Vic? What's wrong?"

Victor didn't know and winced again visibly as his arms clenched around his stomach. "I don't know… system scans are normal…but it hurts…"

Raven frowning began to tug on his metal parts yanking away components and armor plate alike until the lower half of his body was revealed and she stood stock still and bug eyed…mouth agape in surprise until her face flushed completely.

Victor also stood surprised as he looked down at his rather impressive, naked erection.

Now…before anyone begins thinking this couldn't be the problem it has to be taken into account that Victor had never experienced an erection before…and in this world, their happy place…everything works like it's supposed to, and at Victor's age and physical development this should have already happened at least once before but never had. On top of that, his suit wasn't designed to cover a penis, erect or not.

Cyborg's real body was severely damaged in the accident and he was unfortunately, intimately aware of the loss…and while in RL this wouldn't have happened, neither expected this to happen here…but now that the cat was out of the bag neither was sure what to do other then blush.

Neither teen had any experience with the intimacy of this situation, and awkward was the only best way to describe it…but despite having lost large portions of his body including the meat and potatoes of the situation, Victor thankfully took the first step and imagined himself in swim trunks and the rest of his components off as he charged to the river. "Last one in smells B.B.'s shorts after a workout!"

Raven stood still for a second before she suitably changed as well into a black one piece and charged after him. "Oh I don't think so!" She cried as she landed on his back and they both splashed into the cold lake.

It might be some time before a sane discussion of this situation happened…but for now this was as close to a cold shower as the two would get.

O

Robin banged furiously on the keys of the keyboard as he ground his teeth. Shock was evident on his face and he was debating the sanity of certain individuals. "She must have a death wish…that's the only explanation!" he said in a tight manner.

Robin had been looking through the titan's records and discovered something that was entered "quietly" as not to alert anyone it seemed.

In actuality Robin wouldn't have noticed it at all if he hadn't been updating notes in all of the titan's records and that was when he found it.

Bumble bee had done the unthinkable.

She offered a tentative position on the titans east team to Jinx.

Granted…the former Hive operative had helped both west and east in the recent past…but it was still unsure where her loyalties lay.

In actuality Robin still toyed with the idea that she was a double agent and would betray them when the right time came as Cyborg did at one time.

Still without brother blood the hive was disjointed and disorganized which pointed to who the brains of the outfit really was.

Thankfully they cut the head from that snake long ago.

Still, even though jinx had distanced herself from her hive days, her loyalty was questioned by the majority of the titans.

It didn't help though that kid flash was enamored with her either…but according to him she was legit and was trying to move away from her days of old when she took the easy way to everything…much to her former teammates displeasure.

Robin…was not so convinced.

The reason he was so upset though was the backhanded way this was done.

Now…titans east was a separate entity, and could do as they saw fit…but new members to either team was discussed with both teams as they would work together on occasion. Robin growled to himself as his eyes narrowed in suspicion. While he trusted titans east could handle themselves, the fact that Bumble bee did this without informing anyone in titans west smacked of her overstepping herself severely.

A time would have to come soon where they all talked about it…but in the meantime Robin continued through the personnel roster to complete the notes he had been composing…but knew there would be a reckoning on the horizon.

O

The man grinned as another barrel was placed on the floor near the massive machine.

Connected to it was a clear tank that at this time was empty, but would soon be full of a chemical soup that would give him what he had wanted for the last four years since he woke up again.

The man's face was covered by a mask that while plain, left a person with a creepy feeling if you heard the voice wafting from it. It was almost like talking to a ghost and it just said it was going to pull the life from you.

"How many more barrels for this chemical?"

Atlas looked at the man with a grimace before he answered him. "Five more barrels and it will be done."

The man nodded his head and his voice sounded approving. "Good. Just three more compounds and we can begin."

Atlas nodded as he turned and walked back to the truck and grabbed another barrel.

The man smirked behind his mask as he watched the once proud robot bow to his will.

Of course, the robot knew that if it wanted to continue surviving he had better listen.

It took the man a few days but he finally procured the computer that housed Atlas's personality, and it was a simple manner to plant the explosives on it.

The mechanic that Atlas used was one of his minions so he wouldn't be fiddling with it, but Atlas didn't know this.

It was amazing to think a machine was afraid of dying to the point it would do anything to live.

Not that Atlas wasn't above evil deeds…but it was good to know.

His other minions were not so easy. The Earthenites were happy to continue what they were doing for the powers they had and the loot they obtained…petty thug mentality but he could care less. Besides which they were the easiest to manipulate usually.

His problem came when he tried to use HIS power to accomplish his goals.

He wasn't sure what was necessary to stop HIM, but he knew who he could use to achieve his goal.

She had beaten him once, she could do it again.

He only hoped what he was doing now would work for him at the very least.

The man stepped over and touched the machine with a smirk. "Ridiculous." He mumbled as he ran the same hand almost lovingly over the interface before he pat it and turned away from it.

The comment he made was for how easy it was to steal the machine from STAR labs. The project for it was scrapped years ago, but like most agencies including the government instead of dismantling and keeping the idea on hard drive somewhere, they kept a working prototype in mothballs.

More then likely they didn't even know that the thing was missing.

No one went down there and the equipment wasn't even inventoried properly. A few makeshift junk items, some tarps and crates and no one was the wiser. _Really, what would a ten dollar an hour rent a cop know about a quarter of what was down there. The closest they come to technical knowledge would be star trek reruns. _"BAH!"he said in disgust which caused Atlas to look up but the man paid him no mind as he sat behind a desk and pecked away at a keyboard.

Most accomplished…just a bit more to go and if everything works…

The man grinned behind his mask again but frowned as his hand began to look like it was wax under a flame, the skin becoming translucent and beginning to run.

With a grumble he walked over to yet another machine and opened it before he lay back in it and closed the lid.

_Soon _he thought _I won't need these particular devices, and then we can truly begin. _

And with a laugh sounding on the border of madness, he activated the machine and closed his eyes.

O

Robin frowned as Cyborg stumbled again in the training room.

While his systems were operating at peak performance, the titan in question seemed to be performing below his recent score.

Robin even had been forced to reduce the settings to level five point five in order for him to keep up.

THIS was one of the things Robin was worried about in previous days but had not had time to explore to discover the problem and find the solution. With a frown Robin slapped the suspend button on the console bringing the action to a halt.

Cyborg looked up towards the control room with a frown of his own as he straightened from his crouch. "Hey what gives? I was just getting warmed up."

Robin activated the intercom and spoke to his teammate, a slight edge to his voice. "Are you goofing off Cy? I mean if you are then no biggy, we can start over."

Cyborg frowned deeper as he wiped his brow. "What do you mean? I got this!"

Robin glowered at the video screen then slapped the shutdown button before leaving the control area and heading in the training room. "Look Cy…what I mean is your scores have plummeted from where they were. A few weeks ago you were on level eight, now you are back around level six. Is everything ok?"

Cyborg turned his head away as if in thought, but his human eye darted around as if he was avoiding the issue. "Yeah everything is cool…especially now with me and Rachel being together!" he finished with enthusiasm.

Robin looked skeptical but reached over in a strange moment between the two and pat his shoulder. "You know if something is wrong you can come talk to me right?"

Victor Stone looked in surprise at the boy wonder before he shook his head. "Yeah sure…if you say so."

Robin opened his mouth to say something he thought would be encouraging but Victor gave him no chance as he waved his hand. "Look there's nothing wrong. Everything is fine. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a project I'm still working on that needs to be finished."

Robin frowned as the half metal titan walked out of the door wondering if there was anything they could do or if this was something only he could fix.

Either way he realized if he wanted his team to trust him with personal problems as well as professional he would have to be able to show them he could handle it…and right now the only ones that seemed to trust him on that level was Star fire and Beast boy.

Raven would take a lot of time, and Cyborg…maybe just as long.

With a sigh, Robin turned and set up his training program and hoped he wasn't wrong.

O

Cyborg grumbled to himself as he continued to weld and solder pieces onto his new left arm.

This new add on would be the power he had wanted before with a bit of distance. The 'atomic pile' while nasty as hell at close range, was only good for hand to hand.

Victor noticed that his enemies were used to his arsenal and he had to make some changes.

While this new weapon wouldn't be as long range as his sonic cannons, it would be devastating at mid range…if the diagrams were correct. The big drawback was it required immense energy to fire. One shot from the new weapon would require one of his five fusion batteries, and he didn't dare fire it using his internal power…that was a sure way to shut his systems down and that was a big no; no so at most he could use it five times…if he got to where he had to use it five times, then they were really in the shit and he hoped that day wouldn't come. The metal titan frowned slightly as he looked at the blueprints and put two and two together. It seemed things he did not know about were opening up to him…things from the past. Victor understood what was happening now…he really didn't before because he was too busy wallowing in his own self pity but now he understood. The blueprints were being opened to him one at a time as the technology to create them became available.

His father must have toiled over these designs for months but in all honesty the designs were like the first computer. If his father had tried to create some of the things victor used it would be as big as or even bigger then a barn…and that did no one especially him no good at all.

With circuits and solid state technology constantly growing however…many things that weren't possible before now were.

He still wondered though how his computer brain knew when to release the information or when?

Did his father plan so far ahead that he theorized when the technology would be available?

Farfetched but he had no other explanation.

As he continued to ponder this, the door to his lab opened and in stepped his favorite assistant. "Hey." She said with a smile, giving her traditional greeting.

"Hey yourself." he smiled back at her before she leaned in and gave him a kiss which he eagerly returned.

As they broke contact she caressed his face before she looked down at what he was doing with an earnest look on her face. "What are you making? Is that a new design?"

Victor grinned and nodded eagerly. "Yep. I got a wild hair up my butt and started working."

Raven laughed at the mental image before she smacked him on his arm. "You're a nut you know that?"

Victor chuckled before he applied the welding tip to the piece he was working on again. "Yeah I know…but you love me."

Raven smiled at him because he was right…she was falling in love with him, but that was for a later discussion. She cleared her throat slightly and Victor blinked and looked at her. Raven's face was serious now, and he hoped it wasn't something he had done she wanted to talk about.

Especially not the incident from the day before. They had still not talked about that, and hopefully, they wouldn't.

"Vic…can I ask you something?"

Cyborg tried to keep his face neutral as he began to worry over her subject. "Sure…ask me anything Ray."

With a nod Rachel Roth took a deep breath and looked at him in his eye. "Is there something wrong? Robin told me that your practice session scores are way down."

Victor let out an internal sigh. _Dodged yet another bullet._ He thought before he grinned at her. "Everything is great Ray! You guys worry too much!"

Raven narrowed her eyes at him before she pulled up a stool and sat in front of him. "Victor…please don't do that with me…you know I would do anything for you."

Victor Stone frowned at his girlfriend for a second but began to worry. "Do what? What are you talking about?"

"Hide behind bullshit. I know you're worried about something, when you are lying your eye twitches."

Victor frowned as he thought about it. "No it doesn't." he argued as his eye twitched making her smile and him grimace. "See?"

Cyborg frowned and tried to rock back away from her but her hands held his and he couldn't find the strength to pull away from her as he stared into her dark eyes. "Please Vic…trust me?"

Victor Stone opened his mouth to protest, but the pleading in her eyes made him close his mouth again and look down at the floor.

He realized she was right, he couldn't lie to her, not now. Maybe before when they first started, but they had been through too much already. "Alright." He mumbled before he looked up. "I…had a dream a few days ago…something that I haven't thought again about until recently…"

**Flashback**

Victor Stone stood in blackness.

There was nothing around him that he could tell and he felt utterly alone.

This wasn't necessarily a bad thing, he had been alone for the longest time…but for some reason this felt wrong.

He thought of turning and walking randomly, but a bright light came on and he saw the back of a man standing in front what looked to be the form of the tin man from the Wizard of Oz, except the body was even more ridiculous then the original. A radiator where the chest was supposed to be, something that looked like a crane where the right arm was, a teapot on top where the head rested…it was the most chaotic thing he had ever laid his eyes on.

Before he could speculate about the scene however the man threw his arms in the air and laughed at the heavens as his hands clenched into fists. "I've done it! I have created the next best thing that can aid humanity! A robot that is capable of great feats of strength, agility, and speed! Nothing can surpass this!" But his head bowed again as he lowered his arms and mumbled at his feet. "Alas…it is yet incomplete. It is still empty inside like a can of ham devoid of its moist meaty center! It needs something to become complete…something like," and he turned and thrust his finger at Victor. "YOU!"

Victor Stone blinked in shock as the face of the man stared at him, foam dripping from the corner of his mouth. What shocked the titan thought wasn't the look of insanity on the man's face, nor the comical way he looked very much like a deranged mad scientist. What shocked him was the face though deformed was unmistakably his father's.

Before Victor could react mechanical arms came from everywhere and grabbed him hoisting him up in an unbreakable grip and pulling him towards the metal form that now seemed to have a giant mouth.

As he approached the metal maw he screamed and thrashed but couldn't break free as finally, the mouth closed around him with a final sounding chomp, and Victor Stone found himself trapped in a rigid standing position, unable to move.

He thrashed and tried to twist his head but nothing would work no matter what he tried.

Then he realized with growing horror as the man in front of him began to dance and sing that he wasn't just trapped in the machine…HE WAS THE MACHINE!

People suddenly appeared and where patting the man at his success. He had created the ultimate robot. All they saw was what was on the outside…no one saw what was inside the shell.

"NO! Please I'm not a robot! I'm a man! Please let me out!" He screamed impotently, the brash teenager had in seconds been emotionally reduced to a child again as the tears ran freely down his face and he tried to throw a tantrum inside of his prison.

But the metal body on the outside stood impassive and made no movement as his father accepted his accolades, but inside Victor Stone screamed and begged to be let out...but no one heard him.

**Recall**

Raven looked at Victor with concern as she rested her hand on his shoulder. She could feel the fear and pouring off of him like a physical thing and it hurt her to see him this way.

"Merciful Azarath…that…that's a horrible dream Vic. I can see why that would rip you up inside."

Victor Stone looked at his girlfriend but shook his head. "No…I think you understand somewhat but you don't know what it's like to be me."

Raven frowned at him before she tapped him on the side of his head with a finger. "Hello? In your head for a day ring any bells?"

Victor frowned then shook his head. "Yeah…I know. But you got to go back outside and live your own life…without the metal, without the armor, with living feeling body parts. I had to return to my…prison." He said quietly as he looked down at his hands. "I always do."

Raven felt bad as she considered and realized he was right on a level…but there seemed to be something deeper rooted that he wasn't telling her…or maybe he didn't know himself. Either way they had to discover it and fix it. "Vic I'm here for you now. I know you think everyone sees you as a machine…but I don't. I know you are so much more then the sum of your parts. I know you are a living, breathing, feeling man who I care about greatly. I acknowledge you as the man that I care for and the man that cares for me. Please don't let any of these things that bother you let you forget that. If no one else, I will ALWAYS be by your side…if you let me."

Victor Stone sat still for a moment and couldn't say anything. Her impassioned speech caught him off guard and touched him in such a way that he knew if he opened his mouth the tears would start, and he was a proud man…and of course…he couldn't cry.

Raven however…didn't want to hear that.

She touched his face and smiled at him gently before she kissed his lips. When she pulled back he could see the honesty and compassion in her eyes. "It's ok if you cry Victor. I won't be mean and I definitely won't hurt your feelings." The normally quiet woman opened her mouth to speak then stopped as she considered what she wanted to say and the consequences.

She hesitated as she considered because she was once again in uncharted territory and she didn't want to say anything that would hurt him, but say something that would take away his pain, to let him understand how much she cared, when her newest emotion appeared in her minds eye. The thing that surprised her about this was none of her other emotions had ever stepped forward by themselves before…only hate, and hate's opposite appeared to have grown. "It's ok…say it. He needs it and I know you mean it…WE mean it." Before she faded again.

Raven smiled internally before she let it appear on her face as she looked at Cyborg again. "I..I love you." She said with a slight hesitation. This wasn't because of fear, it wasn't because of anything that would be attributed to a negative feeling. Her hesitation was her using such words for the first time.

It didn't make much difference.

Victor's chin quivered slightly as his eye softened and his face relaxed.

And that was all it took as he pulled her close to him and held her to his chest as he cried quietly in her hair.

Feeling her big powerful man shed his emotions touched Raven in a way she had never felt before, and she found she was not immune to it either as her tears pattered quietly against his armor plate. "It's all right baby," she said soothingly as she rubbed the back of his shoulder. "Let it all out." And with that prompting, eight years of pain was remembered, and finally began to heal.

The man in the machine however was still human, and deep in Victor Stone's heart was still the doubt…still the worry, but for now it was silenced by something he had always wanted…and gave up on finding.

Love.

O

Victor sat quietly on his bed and marveled at the day which was supposed to be rather bland, but was actually quite eventful.

He and Raven had now developed a new step in their relationship that he had long wished for, there were no pressing emergencies, and for the first time in as long as he could remember, he wasn't bitter about who and what he was.

After Raven had acknowledged him, and he cried like a baby, he felt at peace. For the first time in a long time he finally felt at peace.

Cyborg smiled the first true smile that was not forced even a little since he couldn't remember and felt giddy inside.

And it was all because of one young woman, who he had to admit…he was starting to fall hard for.

As he started playing past scenes of their recent moment in his mind, a knock broke his revelry and he frowned at the door. "Come in?" he said in confusion. He knew it wasn't Raven. He had recently given her the lock code to his room and she was coming in now without knocking.

The diminutive green titan caught Cyborg by surprise for a moment as he stepped in, but the serious expression made Cyborg wonder what he was thinking. "Hey B.B…you ok?"

Beast boy frowned at Victor before he stepped in and closed the door. "Yeah…I needed to talk to you. I got stuff on my mind that's been bothering me."

Cyborg nodded as he got comfortable on the bed and smiled at his green teammate. "Talk to me…we'll figure it out."

Garfield Logan usually had the tendency to bull his way around and his child like exuberance usually helped him to ward off any bad feelings by others when he was in the wrong. None of that was present now as he looked at the metal clad teen.

"I..I just wanna know if we're like you know…friends still? You spend all of your time with Raven and even though you play a video game with me once in a while, it's not like it was before you and her hooked up."

Victor Stone's face fell slightly and he blinked at Garfield for a moment before he leaned forward. "What brought this on B.B? Of course I'm your friend. What makes you think I'm not?"

Beast boy was looking at his feet as he thought of how to word it but after a few seconds did what he does best…wing it. "Well you hang out with Raven more then you hang out with me."

Cyborg chuckled and shook his head. "Well she is prettier then you and she is my girlfriend."

Garfield tried again as he tried to find the right combination that would get Cyborg to see his view. "You didn't act like this with bumble bee."

Under normal circumstances Victor would have gotten bitter and snapped something at his friend, but instead he considered then nodded. "I didn't feel the same about her as I do about Raven."

Beast boy chewed his bottom lip for a second before he blurted out. "I miss the old days! We used to hang all the time and no one got in our way or stopped us! Pranking, playing games, eating, and having fun! It's like I woke up and my best friend was gone and replaced with a stranger and I was told to accept him. I don't know where to start with you sometimes and where to end and…" Beast boy stomped his foot and lost control of his power for a second and turned into an ostrich. "It's pissing me off!"

His outburst done, beast boy seemed to get under control again and changed back into a boy as he flopped down on the floor arms crossed and glared at Cyborg.

The metal clad titan forced himself to frown as he figured if he laughed now he would hurt his friend's feelings.

Although seeing a green ostrich suddenly in your room having a tantrum had to go down in the record books as extremely funny.

Still this was a tangible problem he could fix and he was more then happy to do so. "Look B.B….you're taking this too hard. I'm not moving away from you. We're still buds…but you have to understand that girlfriends take priority."

Beast boy looked petulantly at Cyborg and almost stamped his foot again but since he was sitting on the floor all he accomplished was a scuff mark on the finish. "WHY?"

Cyborg blinked at the outburst before he frowned. "Because she's a better kisser then you and looks better in a dress?" At his joke however beast boy glowered more at him, fang poking out of his mouth which only made him look more comical.

Cyborg turned away for a second so he could compose himself then turned back to his friend and grinned in a semi serious manner. "Look Gar…you can't think like that. We will always be friends…I mean you are right…I do spend a lot of time with Raven…but you were the same way with Tara."

At the mention of the teen's previous crush, his face fell slightly but he nodded also after a few seconds. "Yeah…I know what you mean…I just don't want to lose you too ya know?"

Cyborg understood perfectly.  
Garfield Logan was an orphan whose parents were killed in a tragic plane accident not long after he turned four. He never really had a family and if it wasn't for the doom patrol he might never had found out what it was like because of his green condition and physical powers.

He did have a huge inheritance waiting for him once he turned eighteen, but in the meantime he had to make do on his own. Victor had at least knew his parents…Garfield had only known his with a child's eyes…and nothing could change that.

After a few seconds Victor got up and came over and squatted down next to his friend. "Look Gar…Raven and I are going to be together…nothing is going to change that. I'm falling in love with her and I want us to be together."

Beast boy's face fell and he looked down with a frown. "Yeah I know."

But Victor pat his head with a grin. "But that doesn't mean you and I can't be friends and hang too.

Rachel understands and heck…she'll be your friend too."  
Garfield smirked as he nodded. "Alright…I guess as long as you aren't leaving me completely. I just need to find something to keep me occupied too."

"Yep…and when Rachel gets tired of me…I'll come find you. Either way Gar…you'll always be my friend."

Garfield Logan stood up and grinned at Cyborg before he turned and skipped out of the metal titan's room.

It wasn't much, but it made him feel even better then earlier.

His door opening and his girlfriend stepping in and locking it made him smile at her.

Before he could say anything she came over and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him with so much emphasis that it took his breath away.

After a few seconds when they broke apart Cyborg looked at Raven with a goofy grin. "What was that for?"

Raven smirked as she took off her robe and lay it on a nearby chair. "That was a nice thing you did for Garfield."

Victor chuckled and waved it off. "You heard?" He sai with a bit of embarrassment. "Shoot. Gar knows I'd never desert him…he just needed some verbal reassurance."

Raven smirked as she nodded. "Still, it was a reminder for me of how good you really are…and I suppose that deserves a reward."

Cyborg clapped his metal hands three times in succession. "Sweet! What do I get?"

Raven turned and hooked her thumbs in her nightgown's straps and slowly pulled them down, letting her garment fall to the floor.

Victor's eyes locked onto her bare breasts before travelling down to the black satin panties she was wearing and his mouth hit the floor as she walked to him. "I figure it's time we got a lot closer Vic…I've been wanting to feel your metal against my skin…and this is the best way."

Victor 's eyes kept darting down to her breasts and nipples before shooting back to her eyes, no tangible thoughts operating in his head.

After a few silent moments Raven giggled before she turned and hopped into his bed, pulling the blanket up over her body, and gestured for him to come join her.

Victor slowly walked over and stood next to the bed and he was finally able to speak to her.

"Ray…i..if it's sex you want…I don't know what I can do without some research. I don't have…" he started but her finger against his lips silenced him. "I just want to feel you against me Vic…that's all. No physical commitments, just us sleeping together as always my Shmedla." Rachel tried to keep a straight face but they both broke into laughter at the use of the unfamiliar term.

Still laughing Victor squeezed his girlfriend's leg lightly with one hand. "Star would be so proud of you."

Raven smacked his hand before she lay back on the bed. "Don't start!"

When the mirth had wore off Victor Stone sighed and climbed into bed with Raven and cuddled her to him…until her next words got his hard drive clicking and whirring. "No sex Vic…yet."

Cyborg didn't sleep that night either.

O

**Two days later at one am**

Monolith grinned as the guard walked by glaring at him.

Stopping at the security panel he checked the condition of the suppressor field that stopped monolith from using his powers then sneered at the Earthenite as he turned and walked to the next cell. _Soon punk ass…real soon you won't be glaring at anyone. _The massive man thought with a smirk.

He knew their time was coming again…very soon, and then they could start their rampage as the boss promised.

He just had to wait for the sign.

He blinked in surprise as the lights flickered in his cell for a moment then grinned wide as they went out altogether as well as the suppressor field.

With a scream of triumph he called forth his strength and bashed his way out of the cell and glared about him.

Other cells were being broken out of with just as much fervor and Monolith laughed as he watched various super powered villains escape or go on a rampage against the hapless guards who tried feebly to restrain or recapture them.

With a shake of his head he strode down the hall to the level stairs to retrieve his comrades, when significant weight collided with his hip, but failed to bring him down.

Looking at the attacker Monolith's grin grew in size.

The guard that had glared earlier at the Earthenite leader now stared at the man with naked fear in his eyes as he realized he was no match for him. The two men's eyes were locked together like some ancient battle of will until Monolith raised a fist in the air and in a childlike voice which didn't fit with his body whispered, "Nighty night."

The guard shut his eyes in time to not see the massive fist come down, but he would not be opening them again as the top of his head caved in and brains and other gore sprayed out around Monolith.

With a grimace, he wiped his hand on the dead guard's shirt, than casually walked down the stairs.

O

Next Episode: Promises…


End file.
